Medicare Is About to Cover Weight-Loss Drugs for the First Time Here's What the GLP-1 Bridge Program Means for Millions of Americans with Obesity Three weeks from now, on July 1, 2026, millions of older Americans with obesity will gain access to GLP-1 weight-loss medications through Medicare for the first time in the program's 60-year history
Understanding the nuanced differences between these therapies is crucial for making an informed decision about your health journey
Brown fat breaks down glucose, our blood sugar, and fat molecules to help maintain our body temperature by creating heat
The co-activation of both receptors in retatrutide may therefore reduce appetite through two partially independent central pathways, which could explain why the compounds appetite-suppressing effects exceed what GLP-1R agonism alone achieves
What GLP-1s do in your body: Stimulate insulin release from pancreatic beta cells Slow gastric emptying, which reduces appetite Get metabolized primarily by the liver Are cleared partially through kidney function Have unknown long-term effects on thyroid C-cells Nearly half of patients stop GLP-1 therapy within the first year
[15] This signal has not been confirmed in humans, but it is reflected in the prescribing information for approved GLP-1-based medicines such as semaglutide (see the UK Summary of Product Characteristics for Wegovy, available via the electronic Medicines Compendium)
