The Doctor Prescribed an Obesity Drug. Her Insurer Called It ‘Vanity.’ There are new pills right now entering the market to treat obesity. But the prices are obscene! Ok, so I'm skipping the rest of the article which is mostly a complaint that health insurance doesn't cover it. The point, as I said, is that either we get health insurance and medicare to cover it or we don't. But the "don't cover it" option isn't forever because if we wait 10 years, or so, the patents will expire and we'll get a bunch of cheap generic brands. But we'll have to delay the new era when we'll never have to worry about obesity again. On the other hand, if we don't force insurance to cover it then the pharmaceutical industry won't make a profit from them, and without profit, it will be very difficult to get the pharm industry to invent new drugs. But, the insurance companies will lose though. What do you think we should do?
I'm fine waiting a decade for the generic drugs. I think that this is a non-issue. Insurance companies won't want to pay for the obesity drugs until the costs come down.
The insurer (in this rare instance) is right. Given losing weight doesn't cost a dime - and in actual fact will save the patient money - why in heck should they be funded for an 'easy' option? Furthermore, if they're so disinclined to do what it takes, the pills will fail anyway.
It depends how much she weighed. The drug was overpriced and not medically justified by the cost. I think she was just lazy and didn't want to have to lose weight the old fashioned way. Oh, if someone would just give her a magical pill, and pay for that pill too!
If they pay for this, that will make the healthcare insurance costs for everyone go up, and more people will not be able to afford it. Most of those on the Left seem to have trouble understanding this. If the costs do go down, maybe she should buy this pill herself. We all know, it's not like this was just a sudden medical condition that unexpectedly came upon her. She saw herself in the mirror, getting bigger and bigger. She didn't do anything to stop it. That's not what insurance should be there to pay for.
The insurer was thinking costs, and there are other approved bariatric procedures that are both proven and cost-effective. And she could have appealed. That's not to say insurance carriers don't have biases, for example, most commercial insurance formularies still don't cover Viagra or Cialis, but medicare and Medicaid programs have.
A friend took off 80 lbs in about a year by eliminating sugars, refined carbs (all white foods)...It can be done just depends how much one is motivated and committed....
