North Carolina to Discontinue Paying for Weight-Loss Drugs
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2024 11:17 amHere's a link to the article in the New York Times (unfortunately, it is behind a paywall): Link: ( https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/busi ... olina.html ).
On Thursday, the governing board for the North Carolina State Health Plan, which provides health insurance for state employees, teachers, retirees, and their families, voted to discontinue paying for weight-loss drugs like Wegovy effective April 1st. They are taking this action due to exploding costs from this coverage--in June of 2021 they were paying for 2,800 people to take these drugs; in 2023, this number had risen to 25,000. The insurance plan pays $800 a month for the drugs; the average copay is $37 a month. Once coverage is dropped, the patient would have to pay $1,349 per month out-of-pocket. The article notes other health plans are doing the same thing--it specifically mentions the University of Texas system and the Ascension hospital system.
A spokeswoman from Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, called the decision "irresponsible."
As has been discussed in this forum before, I find this whole situation so tragic. All of these people choosing to use a dangerous and outrageously expensive drug when they could get the same or better results by choosing to adopt a whole-food, plant-based way-of-eating like Dr. McDougall's plan.
On Thursday, the governing board for the North Carolina State Health Plan, which provides health insurance for state employees, teachers, retirees, and their families, voted to discontinue paying for weight-loss drugs like Wegovy effective April 1st. They are taking this action due to exploding costs from this coverage--in June of 2021 they were paying for 2,800 people to take these drugs; in 2023, this number had risen to 25,000. The insurance plan pays $800 a month for the drugs; the average copay is $37 a month. Once coverage is dropped, the patient would have to pay $1,349 per month out-of-pocket. The article notes other health plans are doing the same thing--it specifically mentions the University of Texas system and the Ascension hospital system.
A spokeswoman from Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, called the decision "irresponsible."
As has been discussed in this forum before, I find this whole situation so tragic. All of these people choosing to use a dangerous and outrageously expensive drug when they could get the same or better results by choosing to adopt a whole-food, plant-based way-of-eating like Dr. McDougall's plan.