December Obesity Coverage Watch: Key Opinion Leaders Weigh in on Obesity Care

2025 has been an eventful year in the obesity care space. As we close out the year, we’re taking a look at what leading voices in health policy are saying about the value of improved obesity care coverage. 

Tackling the Chronic Disease Epidemic and Rising Healthcare Costs 

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed obesity care coverage as a cornerstone of chronic-disease prevention, during a press conference announcing an effort to expand Medicare and Medicaid coverage for obesity treatments:  

• “If we want to solve the chronic disease crisis, we have to tackle obesity. Obesity is the number one driver of chronic disease: 50% of our adult population is obese or overweight, and it drives 50% of healthcare costs in this country. Diabetes, cardiac disease – we are going to see a decline because of this historic agreement. We are going to see a decline in cost, but more importantly, the afflictions themselves.”  

Ken Thorpe, health policy professor at Emory University, shared why covering the full continuum of obesity care can generate significant long-term savings for public programs for CalMatters:  

• “The rapid uptake of these [GLP-1] drugs hasn’t merely improved people’s lives. It also has provided policymakers with a new way to downsize health care spending… Among Medicare beneficiaries with obesity and at least one other related health condition, like diabetes, just a 5% decrease in body weight was associated with a $1,262 drop in annual health care spending, or 7% in savings on average. A 25% weight reduction — which is not at all uncommon among people on anti-obesity drugs — led to an astonishing $5,442 drop in yearly health care costs, or 31% in savings.” 

Alison Ward, research scientist at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center, and Dana Goldman, co-director of the Schaeffer Center, noted how broader access to obesity medications can generate substantial social and fiscal benefits for taxpayers and working-class Americans in The Washington Post:  

• “Our previous research indicates that Medicare coverage of weight-loss therapies could save federal taxpayers as much as $245 billion in the first decade through reduced medical spending. It would particularly benefit working-class Americans, who disproportionately struggle with obesity and its complications, yet often lack access to effective treatments. Rather than continuing to pay the escalating costs of treating preventable obesity-related diseases, the country should invest in prevention and early intervention.”
• “When accounting for all costs and benefits...the social return on investment would exceed 13 percent annually for all groups with obesity, outperforming the S&P 500’s annualized return of nearly 8 percent since 2000. The net social value from treating all currently eligible adults would total nearly $10.1 trillion — equivalent to about 6 percent of all U.S. household wealth.” 

Obesity is a Women’s Health Issue 

Virginia Caine, M.D., then president-elect of the National Medical Association, on the disproportionate impact of obesity on the Black community, particularly Black women, in the grio:  

• “For Black women, the obesity epidemic is worse: approximately four out of every five Black women are living with overweight/obesity, the highest rate of any group in the U.S... Obesity exacerbates a myriad of other health conditions, including Alzheimer’s, infant mortality, multiple cancers, limb amputations and the most troubling of the coexisting conditions of obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes…Black adults are not only twice as likely as white adults to have obesity and develop this disorder, but Black Americans consistently experience strikingly higher morbidity and mortality burdens of cardiovascular disease — and are more than twice as likely to die of the disease than white adults.”  

A group of women health leaders on how biology combined with stigma together make obesity a fundamentally different experience for women:  

• “Women experience obesity differently than men – from hormonal shifts and reproductive health considerations to disparities in access to diagnosis, treatment, and support. Life stages such as pregnancy, menopause and older adulthood, as well as certain medications, can all influence weight and health in ways unique to women… Too often, stigma and unconscious bias from both society and the healthcare community compound these challenges, leaving women unheard and undertreated.” — Eliza Chin, MD, MPH; Kathryn Schubert, MPP, CAE; Millicent Gorham, PhD (Hon), MBA, FAAN; Elizabeth Battaglino, RN-C; Ramsey Alwin 

The Public Agrees: Obesity is a Chronic Disease and Should Be Covered Like One 

A majority of the American public agrees – obesity is a serious chronic disease, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Gastroenterological Association:  

• 63% of Americans know that obesity is a chronic disease rather than a personal failure, and 57% believe losing weight requires the assistance of a healthcare provider. 

• 80% believe that insurance should cover obesity treatments.  

• Unfortunately, 81% cite barriers that make or would make it difficult or prevent them from accessing treatment if they need it.  

• 87% believe obesity increases the risk (or can worsen existing symptoms) of other chronic conditions.  

If you’re interested in speaking with women’s health leaders, healthcare providers or advocates on the need for increased coverage of comprehensive obesity care, please contact us at info@everybodycovered.org.