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 physician 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 physician that they’re obese or overweight previously 5 years. Public consciousness of GLP-1 medication has elevated previously 12 months, with about one-third (32%) of adults now saying they’ve heard “quite a bit” 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 continual 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 price, 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 at the very least a part of the price, even amongst insured adults about half (53%) say the price was tough to afford.
Whereas 8% of adults ages 65 and older say they’ve taken a GLP-1 treatment for a continual 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 physician they’re obese or overweight previously 5 years.
With Medicare at the moment prohibited by regulation from masking prescribed drugs used for weight reduction, six in ten adults say they assume Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves obese, together with greater than half of Democrats, independents and Republicans. Related shares of the general public proceed to assist Medicare protection of those medication for weight reduction even after listening to arguments for and towards this proposal.
Use, Entry and Affordability of GLP-1 Medication
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 referred to as GLP-1 agonists. GLP-1 medication have garnered an growing quantity of media consideration and a few notable movie star endorsements within the U.S., with a lot of the concentrate on their use for weight reduction, although many of those medication are additionally prescribed to deal with diabetes or cut back danger 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 at the very least “just a little” and about three in ten (32%) saying they’ve heard “quite a bit” 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 at the very least “just a little” about these medication and one in 5 (19%) stated that they had heard “quite a bit.”
The share who say they’ve heard “quite a bit” about these medication rises to at the very least 4 in ten amongst those that have ever been instructed by a physician that they’ve diabetes (45%) or coronary heart illness (41%) or have been instructed by a physician previously 5 years that they’re obese or overweight (42%) – the first situations 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 “quite a bit” 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 probably than their youthful friends to have been instructed by a physician that they’ve diabetes or coronary heart illness.
Adults with annual family incomes of $90,000 or larger are extra probably than these with decrease family incomes to say they’ve heard “quite a bit” about these medication.
General, 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 physician 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 physician that they’re obese or overweight previously 5 years (a few of whom even have diabetes or coronary heart illness).
Black adults are considerably extra probably 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 evaluation of Facilities for Illness Management (CDC) knowledge exhibits that Black and Hispanic adults within the U.S. have a better charge of weight problems than White adults. For extra data on weight problems charges and racial disparities, see KFF’s coverage watch: What are the Implications of New Anti-Weight problems Medication for Racial Disparities?
Related 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, at the very least partly, to deal with a continual 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 continual situation like diabetes or coronary heart illness, together with about 4 in ten (39%) who took them solely to deal with a continual situation and one in 4 (23%) who say they took them to each deal with a continual 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 continual situation reminiscent of diabetes or coronary heart illness – both alone (5%) or together with intent of losing a few pounds (3%) – whereas 5% of adults report ever taking these medication to drop a few pounds however to not deal with a continual situation.
About one in 5 (19%) adults ages 50-64 say they’ve ever taken GLP-1 medication, increased 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 continual situation and 5% say they’ve taken them for weight reduction solely. Few adults beneath age 50 report having taken these medication to deal with continual situations, 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 treatment for a continual 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 protection for prescribed drugs used for weight reduction. Almost 4 in ten (37%) adults ages 65 and older report being instructed by a physician they’re obese or overweight previously 5 years.
Alongside the comparatively excessive price of GLP-1 medication within the U.S., there have been current studies of shortages or restricted availability of those medication occurring as demand will increase. Current information studies have emphasised that some adults are in search of generic or compounded variations of those medication by sources reminiscent of 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 major 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 elsewhere (2%).
Within the U.S., listing costs 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 at the very least a part of the price. 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 and so they 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 supposing 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 an identical 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 reminiscent of 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 regulation from masking medication when prescribed for weight reduction – for extra data, see KFF’s difficulty transient on Medicare protection of GLP-1s. KFF’s newest Well being Monitoring Ballot finds that almost all adults assume Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves obese, with assist remaining largely unchanged after listening to arguments for and towards this proposal.
General, six in ten adults (61%), together with comparable shares throughout age teams, say they assume Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves obese, 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 probably than Republicans (55%) to say this.
Attitudes on some coverage proposals could change when the general public hears completely different arguments in favor or towards 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 obese, the ballot offered two completely different arguments for and towards this proposal:
Argument towards: Some folks say that if Medicare covers the price of these medication, it might enhance premiums paid by folks with Medicare and place monetary stress on the Medicare program and the federal funds.
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 obese.
After being offered with these arguments, the general public’s attitudes stay largely unchanged, with six in ten adults nonetheless saying they assume Medicare ought to cowl the price of these medication when prescribed for weight reduction for people who find themselves obese. Attitudes additionally remained largely unchanged amongst adults 65 and older, amongst those that have taken GLP-1s and those that haven’t, and amongst independents and Republicans. Amongst Democrats, there’s a slight enhance within the share who say Medicare ought to cowl the price after listening to these arguments (71% after v. 66% earlier than).
