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RFK Jr. drops plan to have Medicare, Medicaid cover weight loss drugs

NOLA Dude said:
The health secretary says better diet and exercise will keep Americans trim.

Medicare and Medicaid will not cover blockbuster drugs such as Ozempic to treat obesity, the Trump administration announced on Friday.

The Biden administration in November proposed allowing the public insurance programs to expand coverage of the anti-obesity medications but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now says that is “not appropriate at this time.”

More than 7 million people would have gained coverage to the medicine, CMS said when it proposed the rule.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the class of weight loss drugs known as GLP-1s, arguing the obesity problem can be solved by improving Americans’ diets and encouraging exercise. Kennedy said in a Fox News interview in October that pharma companies are counting on selling the drugs to Americans because “we’re so stupid and so addicted to drugs.”

CMS had estimated the policy change would cost Medicare $25 billion and Medicaid $15 billion over 10 years. The drugs do not cure obesity and most patients must take them continually to sustain weight loss.

Another excellent decision by RFK. This wouldn't have done anything other than enrich the big pharma companies. Also the GLP 1 medications have serious side effects like gut paralysis, decreased heart muscle, decreased bone density and loss of vision.
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Yeah....**** Americans and health care. Assholes should just die and quit being a drain on the system!
 
NOLA Dude said:
How have those doctors addressed the US having the worst chronic disease epidemic in the world?
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How about Americans addressing the issue?

PS - Isn't it nice to be able to say "America is #1 in _[fill in the blank]_" and be honest at the same time?
 
Hamish Howl said:
If people were serious about weight loss, they'd just pop amphetamines like in the good old days.
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My mom was telling me that it was not uncommon for women to be prescribed amphetamines after child birth - to lose the baby weight.
Of course the doctor in front of you writing the prescription was smoking a lucky strike right in front of you.🤣
 
I love this idea that self-discipline is something that Americans will do as a society.

Because it's always worked before.
 
coyote505 said:
I tried a couple of these on doctor's orders for my diabetes, and spent the better part of a year camped on the can. Refused to take anymore. They cost around $700 plus per month in the US.

On the other hand, American weight was going up by about 2 pounds per decade, until around 1980, then zoomed up about 20 pounds between 1980 and 1990. What changed? Starting about 1980, American food and beverage makers switched from sugar to HFCS, because it was cheaper. HFCS is an artificial molecule which our systems are not adapted to metabolize properly. As a result, it does not satiate your appetite like sugar, and you keep eating.

If FDA was serious about protecting Americans' health, rather than AGRA's profits, it could withdraw the GRAS designation of HFCS, forcing the food and beverage industries to go back to sugar.
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HCFS is basically sugar with a little more fructose than glucose. All ushers are broken down in the stomach to their monosaccharides, and there’s really not a lot of evidence HFCS is worse that regular sugar.
 
BirdinHand said:
Their job is to treat their patients - not treat a systemic issue.

I’m sorry your posts continue to repeatedly display your ignorance?
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So why haven't they treated their patients and fixed their chronic diseases? Do you think because it's a big issue that affects a majority of our country it means those doctors are prevented from treating and fixing the chronic disease of the patients they see?

Speaking if ignorance, do you remember when you claimed that the placebo group had to be exposed to the disease in a placebo controlled safety study? 😆
 
Ikari said:
Yeah....**** Americans and health care. Assholes should just die and quit being a drain on the system!
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Rabid vaxxers don't see any other options besides another injection or medication.

It would be so crazy and stupid for people to stop or limit eating the crap that's made them sick and fat./sarcasm off
 
NOLA Dude said:
Rabid vaxxers don't see any other options besides another injection or medication.

It would be so crazy and stupid for people to stop or limit eating the crap that's made them sick and fat./sarcasm off
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Anti-science folk are willing to throw everything under the bus for the sake of their conspiracy theories.
 
gbg3 said:
I've wondered about this huge new trend. This reminds me of all the many kids who were quite suddenly put on attention deficit drugs. When I was a kid, those kids were just the active ones in a classroom and the best thing for them was recesses when all the kids could go outside and run around for a bit. Suddenly, a few decades later, a very large percentage of kids were prescribed these drugs.

I don't now and never have had a weight problem, but it seems Ozempic is currently a huge "trend". I know weight loss is very difficult for some, but it seems many people might be better off by engaging in a healthier lifestyle and healthier choices than resorting to a drug with detrimental side effects.

I think Kennedy is on the right track with this topic. There might be a place for Ozempic in regard to weight loss, but I would hope it would be in limited and infrequent situations - rather than the latest overused trend.
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Great comparison with the ADHD medication. Way too many people who don't need both medications are put on it. It's all about the money unfortunately.
 
Ikari said:
Anti-science folk are willing to throw everything under the bus for the sake of their conspiracy theories.
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Anti-science is literally thinking a medication for diabetes is needed for weight loss as opposed to stop or limit eating the crap that makes you sick and fat.
 
coyote505 said:
I tried a couple of these on doctor's orders for my diabetes, and spent the better part of a year camped on the can. Refused to take anymore. They cost around $700 plus per month in the US.

On the other hand, American weight was going up by about 2 pounds per decade, until around 1980, then zoomed up about 20 pounds between 1980 and 1990. What changed? Starting about 1980, American food and beverage makers switched from sugar to HFCS, because it was cheaper. HFCS is an artificial molecule which our systems are not adapted to metabolize properly. As a result, it does not satiate your appetite like sugar, and you keep eating.

If FDA was serious about protecting Americans' health, rather than AGRA's profits, it could withdraw the GRAS designation of HFCS, forcing the food and beverage industries to go back to sugar.
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They are getting rid of the GRAS designation and also we should stop subsidizing HFCS as well.
 
NOLA Dude said:
Anti-science is literally thinking a medication for diabetes is needed for weight loss as opposed to stop or limit eating the crap that makes you sick and fat.
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Anti-science is to rail against vaccines because someone tries to tie it into some of the issues with Big Pharma and this moves to discredit vaccination in general in pursuit of some insane conspiracy theory and claiming horse dewormers are some cure all.
 
Threegoofs said:
HCFS is basically sugar with a little more fructose than glucose. All ushers are broken down in the stomach to their monosaccharides, and there’s really not a lot of evidence HFCS is worse that regular sugar.
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Wrong. If it were just a matter of a little more fructose, they wouldn't need to run it thru a refinery to make it. The Structure of the molecule has been changed from that of a natural sugar. Structure often means everything, with drugs varying drastically depending on whether their molecule has a left or right twist, even though the components are identical.

Try this: Buy a 12 oz. bottle of Mexican Coke, and a 20 oz bottle of American Coke. Drink half a bottle of each, at separate times. Chances are, you will be as satisfied with the 6 oz of MexiCoke as the 10 oz of American Coke.
 
Ikari said:
Anti-science is to rail against vaccines because someone tries to tie it into some of the issues with Big Pharma and this moves to discredit vaccination in general in pursuit of some insane conspiracy theory and claiming horse dewormers are some cure all.
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When you have to go to the horse dewormer talking point, it's clear you don't have much of an argument.

Wanting vaccines tested for safety isn't railing against vaccine or antivax. That's big pharma propaganda.

Every other medication requires it. Why not vaccines? Why do vaccine makers need immunity from lawsuits if they are so safe?
 
NOLA Dude said:
When you have to go to the horse dewormer talking point, it's clear you don't have much of an argument.

Wanting vaccines tested for safety isn't railing against vaccine or antivax. That's big pharma propaganda.

Every other medication requires it. Why not vaccines? Why do vaccine makers need immunity from lawsuits if they are so safe?
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We have 72 years of data on polio vaccines alone.

What were you looking for?
 
Losing weight through diet and exercise has MANY positive attributes beyond just losing weight such as increased muscles & coordination, improved cardiovascular system, better nutrition, better sleep, reduced acid reflux, improved energy levels, improved body image, etc. To me, the answer is obvious.
 
Hamish Howl said:
We have 72 years of data on polio vaccines alone.

What were you looking for?
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Generic statements like "totally safe" or "totally dangerous" are misleading. In general, vaccines, even when preserved with Thimerosol, are safe for most people. My brother is hyper-sensitive to Thimerosol. The last time he had a vaccine preserved with it, it put him into anaphylactic shock. Not safe for Him.
 
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