Op-Ed: Gerard Scimeca: Trump’s innovation agenda can combat obesity with proven science
Gerard Scimeca makes the case offering GLP-1s through Medicare and Medicaid in his latest op-ed.
If there is one consistent strain in President Donald Trump’s policy initiatives, it is the steadfast embrace of new technology, both to make government more efficient and cost-effective, and to keep America the global leader in innovation throughout each sector of our economy. Early examples include the crypto-friendly GENIUS Act and the rollout of the federal government’s first artificial intelligence (AI) framework, already being implemented to help reform Medicaid.
On the medical front, the arrival of GLP-1 medications, themselves heralded as the “Scientific Breakthrough of the Year” in 2023, presents the next opportunity to continue this trend. By expanding access to medications like Wegovy and Zepbound, the United States could save trillions of dollars in long-term healthcare costs while transforming the way we deliver care.
More than any administration since JFK, the Trump White House is making health a national priority, symbolized by Kennedy’s nephew, RFK Jr., leading the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission. With it well-known that America is in the midst of a rising obesity epidemic, itself a significant contributor to higher healthcare expenditures, new tools and strategies are essential to achieving President Trump’s goal of a healthier nation.
Outdated laws currently prevent Medicare from covering GLP-1 medications, but that must change, not only for America’s collective waistline, but its budgetary bottom line. The proverb “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” has never been truer.
Studies show that preventing or minimizing the chronic diseases associated with obesity could save our nation hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade and generate more than $1 trillion in broader social and economic benefits.
Expanding access will also spur innovation. As demand grows, GLP-1 drugs will become more affordable and attractive to private insurers, while revenues will help fund research into improved or next-generation treatments that expand wellness even further.
But the time to act is now. Delaying reform will leave millions of Americans without access to proven prevention and deepen the nation’s healthcare and fiscal challenges. The facts are startling: over 40 percent of U.S. adults are obese, another third are overweight, and more than 300,000 Americans die from obesity related conditions every year, a death toll comparable to war.
There’s no need for hyperbole to describe the scale of this crisis. What’s clear is that millions have successfully gained control of their appetite and nutrition through GLPs, which simply provide more of a natural peptide our bodies already produce. Some call these medications a “crutch,” opposing their availability to Medicare recipients on principle. RFK, Jr. himself has expressed skepticism toward weight-loss drugs, consistent with his general reproach of the pharmaceutical industry. He argues that lifestyle changes should be enough, as if tens of millions of Americans haven’t already tried and failed to change their diets on their own.
Even those who rightly call for healthier diets and less-processed foods can agree that patients deserve access to safe, effective treatments that help them get there. When a large portion of the population faces structural barriers to maintaining a healthy diet, providing a lifeline through GLP-1s is both compassionate and fiscally responsible. Encouragingly, America’s “food czar” now seems open to a framework for offering GLP-1s through Medicare and Medicaid. Let’s hope RFK Jr. follows through.
Covering anti-obesity medications would generate substantial health improvements and economic returns that far exceed alternative uses of public funds. It would save lives, reduce suffering, lower healthcare costs and generate enormous value for society.
You can’t get any more “MAHA” than that.
Gerard Scimeca is an attorney and chairman of CASE, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, a free-market oriented non-profit organization he co-founded.