Certain obesity drugs will cost as little as $149 and Medicare will start covering them under White House deals

By Tami Luhby, Meg Tirrell, CNN

(CNN) — Certain blockbuster obesity drugs will be available for as little as $149 per month and more Medicare enrollees will have access to them under two deals announced Thursday by the Trump administration.

The arrangements with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, which President Donald Trump foreshadowed in remarks last month, are the latest in the administration’s efforts to lower drug prices. As part of the new deals, the drugmakers have also agreed to reduce prices for a wider array of drugs in Medicaid and the list prices when their medications first hit the market. In exchange, the drugmakers are getting breaks on tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products and a dramatically expedited regulatory review for certain medicines.

The prices consumers pay under the deals, however, will vary based on their coverage and how they purchase the medications, among other factors. The current list price of the drugs ranges from roughly $1,000 to $1,350, though the ultimate cost for consumers depends on their insurance and on discounts.

Under the deal, those buying injectable GLP-1 medications directly from the companies will pay an average of $350 per month to start, though the drugmakers have committed to reducing the price to around $250 over the next two years, according to senior administration officials. If oral GLP-1 tablets are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the lowest dose will cost $149.

These prices will be available when TrumpRx, the administration’s direct-to-consumer website, launches in early 2026.

Novo Nordisk currently offers a direct-to-consumer option for those willing to pay cash for Ozempic and Wegovy, at $499 a month. Lilly also offers cash-pay options for its weight-loss drug Zepbound that start at $349 a month.

Eligible Medicare enrollees, meanwhile, will have a $50 copay for certain GLP-1 medications approved for both obesity and diabetes. The drugmakers will reduce the prices Medicare pays to $245, which will help pay for expanded coverage of weight loss drugs. The prices will take effect in mid-2026.

As part of the deal, the Trump administration is broadening access to obesity drugs for Medicare enrollees with certain medical conditions. Medicare, by law, is not allowed to cover medications for weight loss, but the Biden administration last year proposed reinterpreting the statute to allow coverage for the treatment of obesity as a chronic disease.

Trump officials halted that effort. The administration noted in a call with reporters Thursday that they achieved price reductions, which will make the expansion cost-neutral, while the Biden administration did not include price cuts. The Biden proposal was estimated to cost Medicare $25 billion over a decade.

Under the new arrangement, consumers who are overweight and have prediabetes, have had a stroke or other cardiovascular disease will be eligible, as will those who have obesity and diabetes or uncontrolled high blood pressure and severe obesity.

About 10% of Medicare enrollees would be eligible for expanded access under the deals, senior administration officials said. Medicare already covers certain weight loss drugs if they are also approved to treat certain medical conditions.

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also agreed to provide these medications at lower prices to state Medicaid programs, though the timing will depend on negotiations with each state. Some 13 states covered the costly drugs for weight loss as of August 2024, according to a KFF survey, though North Carolina recently announced it would no longer do so.

Most Favored Nation pricing

In his second term, President Donald Trump revived a controversial initiative to base drug prices in the US on those in other developed countries, so-called Most Favored Nation pricing. His current efforts focus on getting drugmakers to voluntarily agree to reduce their prices in exchange for various incentives.

Trump has fixated in particular on striking a deal for GLP-1 medications that have exploded in popularity in recent years for helping with weight loss and a range of chronic conditions. The president has referred to them in both public and private as the “fat-loss drug.”

“We’re going to be paying, instead of $1,300, you’ll be paying about $150,” Trump said of the GLP-1 drugs during a mid-October event highlighting a separate drug price deal, prompting Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Mehmet Oz to jump in and emphasize that the negotiations were still ongoing.

Notably, Ozempic and Wegovy were selected in January for a second round of Medicare drug price negotiations, which is expected to result in savings for the program and, possibly, for enrollees depending on their drug coverage.

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