According to Cate Varney, a physician who treats patients with obesity at UVA Health, "we're leveling the playing field with these medications."

Although respondents were mostly supportive of adults using GLP-1 drugs for weight-loss, their answers were more mixed when it came to children. Only 35% of respondents said it was a good idea for children ages 12-17 with obesity or a weight-related health condition to use GLP-1 drugs, and only 8% said the same for children who were not obese or did not have a weight-related health condition.

Should weight-loss drugs be covered by Medicaid and Medicare?

Although many Americans are eligible for GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, the high cost of these medications continues to be a significant barrier for many patients. Insurance coverage for weight-loss drugs also remains limited, with only around half of large employers covering anti-obesity medication.

In the AP-NORC poll, a little over 50% of respondents said they supported Medicare and Medicaid covering GLP-1 drugs for weight loss in people with obesity. Democrats were more likely to be supportive than Republicans or Independents. 

Last November, the Biden administration proposed expanding coverage of weight-loss medications in Medicare and Medicaid programs, which would allow 7.5 million additional people to access the drugs.

Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra called the proposal a "game changer" and said that "[w]e really need to use every tool we've got in the toolbox[…]to try to keep America healthy. We should let science drive us to where we'll go."

Separately, CMS in January announced the next 15 drugs to be part of Medicare price negotiations, including Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy for type 2 diabetes and weight loss.

"It's obviously a big deal that Medicare will be negotiating the price for Ozempic and Wegovy," said Ben Rome, a physician and health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School. "This is a tremendous opportunity for the Medicare program to negotiate a fair price that will allow the drug to be affordable for patients and for the government."

Although these changes were announced under the Biden administration, the current Trump administration will have to finalize them. So far, it's unclear what will happen with weight-loss drugs and their coverage, since several of Trump's selected health leaders have differing views on the matter.

For example, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's choice for HHS Secretary, has been a vocal critic of weight-loss drugs, saying that they hide the root causes of poor health in America.

However, Mehmet Oz, a TV personality and cardiothoracic surgeon who Trump nominated to lead CMS, has praised weight-loss drugs in the past. Marty Makary, Trump's nominee to lead FDA, has noted the benefits of weight-loss drugs, but also cautioned against their cost and the potential of overprescription.

For its part, Novo Nordisk said it continues to be opposed to the Medicare price negotiation program and has pledged to work with the Trump administration to address its concerns. "That is why we are deeply concerned about the price-setting process, which could negatively impact patients' ability to access their medicines and threatens to stifle future scientific development of life-changing medicines," a company spokesperson said.