The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday unveiled a voluntary model designed to expand access to GLP-1 medications for weight management and metabolic health, allowing Medicare Part D plans and state Medicaid agencies to cover these drugs while negotiating lower prices to manage expenses.
The Better Approaches to Lifestyle and Nutrition for Comprehensive Health (BALANCE) Model aims to combine GLP-1 drugs with evidence-based lifestyle interventions to improve long-term outcomes, following recent federal efforts to address affordability barriers to treatments like Ozempic and Wegovy.
“Today’s announcement builds upon our historic Most Favored Nations drug pricing deals’ goal of democratizing access to weight-loss medication, which has been out of reach for so many in need,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement….