On Tuesday local time, the White House in the USA announced on its official website that the Biden administration has introduced a proposal, requesting that Medicare and Medicaid include "weight loss miracle drugs" such as Wegovy and Ozempic in the coverage range.

According to media reports, this is a costly but potentially popular move, which needs Trump's support to become an official measure. This is also one of the final major policy directives of the Biden administration.

Influenced by this news, the US stocks of weight loss drug concepts rose across the board, with Eli Lilly up by 4.55%, Viking Therapeutics up by nearly 3%, and Novo Nordisk up by 1.5%.

US medical assistance covers weight loss drugs.

In recent years, the issue of obesity has become increasingly serious in the USA, becoming an undeniable public health concern.

According to reports, 42% of people in the USA are considered to have obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pointed out that obesity is a chronic disease that can put people at risk of heart disease, diabetes, respiratory issues, stroke, and certain cancers.

To address this challenge, the Biden administration hopes to alleviate the economic burden of obesity patients through medical care, allowing more people to access treatment with weight loss drugs.

The White House stated that these weight loss drugs can help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes, reducing the death and illness rates from heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases by up to 20%. However, the treatment is too expensive for most Americans to afford.

An official at the White House estimated that a month's supply of weight loss drugs could cost 1,000 yuan or more.

In addition to including drugs in insurance, the White House also plans to reduce drug costs, including launching drug price negotiation plans and increasing market competition.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, expressed that she does not want to see people having to wait until they have these additional diseases before receiving treatment.

There is a growing medical consensus that obesity is a chronic health condition.

Although the press release did not mention the names of the drugs, it can still be understood that the drugs mainly refer to Novo-Nordisk's semaglutide and Eli Lilly's tirzepatide.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said that today is a good day for people with obesity. For Americans who could not afford these medications before, this will change the game.

Trump team blocking?

Just recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated by Trump as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), strongly opposed GLP-1 drugs, believing they are the wrong approach to addressing the obesity crisis.

His remarks directly led to the collapse of the U.S. pharmaceutical stocks.

However, Kennedy does not have a degree or formal qualifications in the health field, but he still views healthcare and what he sees as the "flaws in the American system" as the cornerstone of his presidential candidacy, attributing the increase in chronic diseases to unhealthy food, unnecessary medications (including certain vaccines), and fluoridated water.

In a recent program, Kennedy pointed out that if we could provide three healthy meals a day for everyone, we could immediately solve the obesity and diabetes epidemic.

He also criticized Novo-Nordisk, saying they "expect Americans to buy this drug due to stupidity and addiction to drugs."

Although his remarks may be just personal opinions, with his potential appointment as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, these opinions could potentially be transformed into federal policies.