Arizona lawmakers hold off on recommending expanded coverage of weight loss drugs

Arizona lawmakers are considering recognizing obesity as a chronic disease and examining the cost savings of covering preventative care.

A bipartisan panel of lawmakers and health professionals voted Wednesday to create an advisory committee, tasked with providing a report on obesity to the full Arizona Legislature.

Sen. David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista) who chaired the panel, says there’s potential for preventative treatments that could save Arizona health systems in the long run.

“With our departments and everybody speaking at the podium and from up this way is that it [obesity] causes a lot of hospital visits, right, and has a lot of money attached to it that maybe we can prevent,” Gowan said.

The panel had considered recommending the Legislature expand Arizona’s Medicaid program to cover the cost of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic, but punted that decision to the new advisory committee.

Arizona’s Medicaid agency is called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS.

AHCCCS representative Steven Berg told the panel that the agency spends about $73 million on GLP-1s currently and about $13 million of that comes from the state general fund.

President Donald Trump announced last month that his administration is lowering the price of certain GLP-1s. When that goes into effect, Berg said AHCCS expects their spending will drop to $23 million overall and $5 million in state spending.

In other states, Berg said higher than expected use of GLP-1s made covering them very expensive.

“There were 14 states covering GLP-1s for obesity, but now six of those states will be clawing back coverage and no longer cover GLP-1s for obesity,” Berg said.