Ozempic, Wegovy Strain State Budgets in Battle Against Obesity

Blockbuster anti-obesity medications are straining the budgets of state health plans and Medicaid programs—a growing problem analysts and researchers say requires more innovative payment models to ensure the drugs are accessible to patients.

North Carolina’s State Health Plan voted Jan. 25 to stop covering GLP-1 medications like Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy and Ozempic and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound for its roughly 480,000 state employees. The plan’s board of trustees cited the rising prices from drugmakers, which led the health plan to spend more than $100 million on the drugs in 2023.

The drugs, known as glucagon-like peptide ...