Key Findings
- The newest KFF Well being Monitoring Ballot finds that about one in eight adults (12%) say they’ve ever taken a GLP-1 agonist – an more and more well-liked class of prescribed drugs used for weight reduction and to deal with diabetes or stop coronary heart assaults or strokes for adults with coronary heart illness – together with 6% who say they’re at the moment taking such a drug. The share who report ever taking these medication rises to 4 in ten (43%) amongst adults who’ve been instructed by a health care provider that they’ve diabetes, 1 / 4 who’ve been instructed they’ve coronary heart illness, and one in 5 (22%) who’ve been instructed by a health care provider that they’re chubby or overweight previously 5 years. Public consciousness of GLP-1 medication has elevated previously yr, with about one-third (32%) of adults now saying they’ve heard “lots” about these medication, up from 19% in July 2023.
- Most adults who’ve taken GLP-1 medication say they took them to deal with a persistent situation together with diabetes or coronary heart illness (62%), whereas about 4 in ten say they took them primarily to drop a few pounds.
- About half (54%) of all adults who’ve taken GLP-1 medication say it was tough to afford the associated fee, together with one in 5 (22%) who say it was “very tough.” Whereas most insured adults who’ve taken these medication say their insurance coverage lined a minimum of a part of the associated fee, even amongst insured adults about half (53%) say the associated fee was tough to afford.
- Whereas 8% of adults ages 65 and older say they’ve taken a GLP-1 medicine for a persistent situation, simply 1% say they’ve ever taken a GLP-1 drug to drop a few pounds, which can mirror Medicare’s lack of protection for prescribed drugs used for weight reduction. Almost 4 in ten (37%) adults ages 65 and older report being instructed by a health care provider they’re chubby or overweight previously 5 years.
- With Medicare at the moment prohibited by legislation from masking prescribed drugs used for weight reduction, six in ten adults say they suppose Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves chubby, together with greater than half of Democrats, independents and Republicans. Comparable shares of the general public proceed to help Medicare protection of those medication for weight reduction even after listening to arguments for and in opposition to this proposal.
Use, Entry and Affordability of GLP-1 Medicine
KFF’s newest Well being Monitoring Ballot examines the general public’s views and use of an more and more well-liked group of medication that embrace Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and others that belong to a category of prescription medicines often known as GLP-1 agonists. GLP-1 medication have garnered an increasing amount of media consideration and a few notable movie star endorsements within the U.S., with a lot of the give attention to their use for weight reduction, although many of those medication are additionally prescribed to deal with diabetes or scale back threat of coronary heart assault or stroke.
A big and growing share of the general public say they’ve heard about GLP-1 medication, with about eight in ten (82%) adults saying they’ve heard a minimum of “a bit of” and about three in ten (32%) saying they’ve heard “lots” about these medication. The share of the general public who report having heard about these medication has elevated since July 2023 when seven in ten adults reported having heard a minimum of “a bit of” about these medication and one in 5 (19%) mentioned that they had heard “lots.”
The share who say they’ve heard “lots” about these medication rises to a minimum of 4 in ten amongst those that have ever been instructed by a health care provider that they’ve diabetes (45%) or coronary heart illness (41%) or have been instructed by a health care provider previously 5 years that they’re chubby or overweight (42%) – the first circumstances these medication are prescribed for.
Throughout age teams, consciousness of those medication is highest amongst older adults. About 4 in ten adults ages 50 to 64 and 65 and older say they’ve heard “lots” about GLP-1 medication, in comparison with about one-third of adults ages 30-49 (32%) and one in six adults ages 18-29 (17%). Notably, older adults are extra possible than their youthful friends to have been instructed by a health care provider that they’ve diabetes or coronary heart illness.
Adults with annual family incomes of $90,000 or higher are extra possible than these with decrease family incomes to say they’ve heard “lots” about these medication.
Total, 12% of adults say they’ve ever used GLP-1 medication, together with 6% who say they’re at the moment utilizing them. The share who report ever taking these medication rises to about 4 in ten (43%) amongst adults who’ve been instructed by a health care provider that they’ve diabetes, 1 / 4 (26%) of adults who’ve been instructed they’ve coronary heart illness, and one in 5 (22%) adults who’ve been instructed by a health care provider that they’re chubby or overweight previously 5 years (a few of whom even have diabetes or coronary heart illness).
Black adults are considerably extra possible than White adults to report ever taking these medication (18% v. 10%), whereas 13% of Hispanic adults say they’ve taken these medication. KFF’s analysis of Facilities for Illness Management (CDC) information exhibits that Black and Hispanic adults within the U.S. have a better price of weight problems than White adults. For added info on weight problems charges and racial disparities, see KFF’s coverage watch: What are the Implications of New Anti-Obesity Drugs for Racial Disparities?
Comparable shares of adults no matter gender, earnings, or medical health insurance protection report taking these medication.
Among the many 12% of adults who’ve ever taken GLP-1 medication, most report taking them, a minimum of partly, to deal with a persistent situation like diabetes or coronary heart illness, with fewer saying they took them solely to drop a few pounds. Amongst those that have taken these medication, six in ten (62%) say they took them to deal with a persistent situation like diabetes or coronary heart illness, together with about 4 in ten (39%) who took them solely to deal with a persistent situation and one in 4 (23%) who say they took them to each deal with a persistent situation and to drop a few pounds. About 4 in ten (38%) adults who’ve taken these medication report utilizing them solely to drop a few pounds.
Amongst all adults, 7% say they’ve taken or are taking these medication to deal with a persistent situation akin to diabetes or coronary heart illness – both alone (5%) or together with intent of dropping pounds (3%) – whereas 5% of adults report ever taking these medication to drop a few pounds however to not deal with a persistent situation.
About one in 5 (19%) adults ages 50-64 say they’ve ever taken GLP-1 medication, larger than the shares reported by different age teams. Amongst adults ages 50-64, 15% say they’ve taken GLP-1 medication to deal with a persistent situation and 5% say they’ve taken them for weight reduction solely. Few adults below age 50 report having taken these medication to deal with persistent circumstances, however comparable shares of 18–29-year-olds (7%) and 30–49-year-olds (6%) report having taken them for weight reduction. Amongst adults ages 65 and over, 8% say they’ve taken a GLP-1 medicine for a persistent situation, whereas simply 1% say they’ve taken these medication solely to drop a few pounds, which can be a mirrored image of Medicare’s lack of coverage for prescribed drugs used for weight reduction. Almost 4 in ten (37%) adults ages 65 and older report being instructed by a health care provider they’re chubby or overweight previously 5 years.
Alongside the comparatively excessive price of GLP-1 medication within the U.S., there have been current reports of shortages or limited availability of those medication occurring as demand will increase. Recent news stories have emphasised that some adults are looking for generic or compounded variations of those medication by means of sources akin to medical spas or compounding pharmacies, which can promote merchandise claiming to be name-brand GLP-1s that haven’t been vetted by the F.D.A.
About eight in ten (79%) adults who’ve taken GLP-1 medication report getting these medication or a prescription for them from their main care physician or a specialist, whereas fewer report getting them from a web based supplier or web site (11%), a medical spa or aesthetic medical middle (10%), or from someplace else (2%).
Within the U.S., checklist prices for GLP-1 medication can vary from $936 to $1,349 earlier than insurance coverage protection, rebates or coupons. Most insured adults who’ve taken GLP-1 medication say their insurance coverage lined a minimum of a part of the associated fee. Amongst adults with medical health insurance who report ever taking these medication, over half (57%) say their medical health insurance lined a part of the price of these medication they usually paid the remainder, whereas one in 4 (24%) say their medical health insurance lined the total price. One in 5 (19%) insured adults who’ve taken GLP-1s say they paid for the total price themselves.
Even though few insured adults say they paid the total price of those medication themselves, many report problem affording them. About half of adults who’ve taken GLP-1s say it was tough to afford the price of these medication. Amongst those that have taken these medication, about half (54%) – together with 53% of these with medical health insurance – say it was both “considerably” or “very tough” to afford to pay for these medication, together with one in 5 (22%) who say it was “very tough,” together with the same share of adults with medical health insurance (23%).
Public Opinion on Medicare Protection of GLP-1s for Weight Loss
Whereas some Medicare drug plans cowl the price of some GLP-1s akin to Ozempic or Wegovy when prescribed to deal with diabetes or stop coronary heart assaults or strokes for adults with coronary heart illness, Medicare is at the moment prohibited by legislation from masking medication when prescribed for weight reduction – for extra info, see KFF’s issue brief on Medicare coverage of GLP-1s. KFF’s newest Well being Monitoring Ballot finds that the majority adults suppose Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves chubby, with help remaining largely unchanged after listening to arguments for and in opposition to this proposal.
Total, six in ten adults (61%), together with comparable shares throughout age teams, say they suppose Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves chubby, a share that rises to about seven in ten (71%) amongst those that have ever taken these medication.
Whereas greater than half of adults throughout partisans say Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication for weight reduction, Democrats (66%) are considerably extra possible than Republicans (55%) to say this.
Attitudes on some coverage proposals could change when the general public hears totally different arguments in favor or in opposition to sure proposals. After asking whether or not Medicare ought to cowl the price of GLP-1s when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves chubby, the ballot offered two totally different arguments for and in opposition to this proposal:
Argument in opposition to: Some folks say that if Medicare covers the price of these medication, it might improve premiums paid by folks with Medicare and place monetary strain on the Medicare program and the federal price range.
Argument in favor: Others say that if Medicare covers the price of these medication, it might assist extra folks afford these medicines and enhance well being and high quality of life for people who find themselves chubby.
After being offered with these arguments, the general public’s attitudes stay largely unchanged, with six in ten adults nonetheless saying they suppose Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves chubby. Attitudes additionally remained largely unchanged amongst adults 65 and older, amongst those that have taken GLP-1s and people who haven’t, and amongst independents and Republicans. Amongst Democrats, there’s a slight improve within the share who say Medicare ought to cowl the associated fee after listening to these arguments (71% after v. 66% earlier than).
