Trump announces lower prices for weight-loss drugs, expanded Medicare eligibility

WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Thursday that two major pharmaceutical companies will be lowering the cost of popular GLP-1 drugs used to treat diabetes and for weight loss — and that the government will, in turn, expand eligibility for Medicare users.

Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy; and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, which makes Zepbound, agreed to sell their drugs to Medicare at a lower “most favored nation” rate, as well as offer discounts directly to other consumers on the TrumpRx website that will launch in early 2026.

“Americans should pay no more than the lowest price corporate anywhere in the world,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

“Americans have been spending as much as 540% more for Zepbound and 1,400% more for Wegovy than patients in Europe…  for the exact same box. And that ends starting today.”

The president said the price overhaul would “save lives or improve the health of millions and millions of Americans — amazing thing.”

The drug group, which also can reduce the risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease, burst into the spotlight in recent years due to dramatic weight loss associated with use — and Trump’s reforms will authorize Medicare to cover the drugs specifically to combat obesity for the first time, though patients will need to have a body-mass index above 35 to qualify.

Trump said that the medications have “very little side effects” but joked that “someday maybe it’ll come out, which we’ll notify you [of] immediately.”

The agreements are the latest in a string of similar deals with drugmakers to avert Trump’s threat of 200% tariffs on the industry as the president pushes to return manufacturing to the US.

The announcement also comes as affordability issues top voter concerns ahead of next year’s midterm elections — with Republicans trounced in New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races due to the issue, according to exit polls.

In exchange for dropping prices, authorities are relaxing eligibility rules for senior citizens on government-run Medicare programs — including covering prescriptions for people who are severely overweight and expanding comorbidity requirements for other customers.

The roughly two-thirds of Americans who are covered by private health insurance also stand to benefit, officials said.

“The commercial insurers will also be able to access lower prices, we estimate at least 25% lower than the current cash price market today,” one administration official told reporters on a White House-organized call ahead of Trump’s remarks.

“What we are observing is, in some instances, insurers are beginning to enable beneficiaries to purchase or pay their members to make purchases through the cash market, and then have that count toward their deductible and out-of-pocket maximum.”

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in the Oval Office that “one in three people who can hear my voice” are medically eligible for the class of drugs.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services , said that “the American public, because of this agreement, will lose 125 million pounds by this time next year.”

“Obesity is a disease of poverty, overwhelmingly, and these drugs have only been available for people who have wealth,” Kennedy said. “At one point … the highest concentration of prescriptions in this country was the Upper West Side of Manhattan.”

Administration officials presented the agreement as a win-win.

“Companies here are getting a few things. One is certainty around tariff issues … That’s one piece. We’re also getting certainty in terms of the administration’s approach to drug pricing,” one official said.

“In this particular case, we’re providing additional access to beneficiaries who wouldn’t otherwise be covered by Medicare for obesity indications, and so there’s access to additional patients who could really benefit from these medications, and that’s mutually beneficial for both the taxpayer, for those beneficiaries, as well as for the companies. Over the long term, our expectation is that this will be cost neutral.”

The drug costs will gradually be lowered under the plan.

“On TrumpRX, the average price of injectables … will be at or below $350 to start. This compares to $500 roughly today. That will trend down to the same $245 over 24 months,” an official said, with under-development oral medications, should they be approved, starting at $149 for the lowest dose.

The co-pay for Medicare beneficiaries will be $50.