Legislators may launch a study of how weight loss drugs might reduce costs in the Iowa Medicaid program.
Jeffrey Boeyink is a lobbyist for Eli Lilly the company which has proposed a bill on the topic.
“We’re not here to ask you to mandate drugs in the Medicaid program,” Boeyink said earlier today during a House subcommittee meeting. “What we are here to do is ask if we could direct Medicaid to do a study on what the cost-benefit analysis of the inclusion of these drugs in the state’s health care plan might have on both short and long term health care costs.”
Lilly produces Zepbound, a drug the FDA has approved for weight loss, as well as the diabetes drug Mounjaro, which has been shown to help weight loss. Boeyink cited a recent study by Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services. It found expanding coverageto the new class of weight loss drugs for obese Medicaid patients could save the State of Utah 20% in health care costs for those patients.
Carrie Malone of the Iowa Department of Human Services, which manages Iowa’s Medicaid program, spoke at the subcommittee meeting. “We think a more academic approach is needed, so we’re working through what that would cost,” Malone said, “because we don’t have the expertise to do this kind of a study.”
Legislators on the three-member House subcommittee gve initial approval to the bill, but say they’re interested in seeing if a university in the state could conduct the research.
Brandon Geib, a lobbyist for Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, saod there are health benefits to the newly-available weight loss drugs, but he told lawmakers the study needs to consider the upfront costs.
“The State of Iowa (Medicaid) Plan actually covered GLP-1 drugs for weight loss last year,” Geib said. “I think they covered them for around six months and then they shut it off due to the cost.”
At least a dozen states now cover GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound if they are prescribed to Medicaid patients. Boeyink, the Eli Lilly lobbyist, said it stands to reason health care risks — and health care costs — are reduced when obese Medicaid patients lose weight by taking these drugs.