Obesity drugs might get covered under Medicare and Medicaid

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and an update on GLP-1 drugs.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange, here's what we're watching

00:03on the street today.

00:05The Dow and the S&P 500 closed at fresh record highs on Tuesday as investors tried to pick

00:11winners and losers in Donald Trump's tariff plans.

00:14On the economic front, new home sales dropped in October to a two-year low.

00:19Sales were hurt by hurricane activity in the South.

00:22The median sales price rose to $437,300.

00:26Wednesday's main event will be the release of the PCE index, which is the Federal Reserve's

00:31preferred inflation gauge.

00:34In other news, the Biden administration is set to introduce a change that could impact

00:39more than 7 million people covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

00:43Under a new proposal, GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Wegovy will be covered by the government-backed

00:49health insurance plans.

00:51This decision, if approved, would remove a prohibitive cost barrier since these drugs

00:56are not covered by insurance and can cost as much as $1,000 a month.

01:01If Medicare and Medicaid were to cover these weight loss stimulants, that would open the

01:06door for private insurers to do the same for all Americans with health insurance.

01:11Currently, only GLP-1s prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes, such as Ozempic and Monjaro,

01:17are covered by insurance plans.

01:19There is a cost, however, to this expansion.

01:23The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates the coverage would cost the government

01:28$36 billion over a decade.

01:31The Trump administration has to approve this rule change once it is in office.

01:37That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:40I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.