Op-Ed | Breaking biases in health care: the need for comprehensive Medicaid coverage for obesity treatment

Nutritionist measuring overweight woman’s waist with tape in clinic, closeup
Photo via Getty Images

Obesity is a disease just like any other — it requires treatment plans, medication and careful monitoring by qualified medical professionals. Unfortunately, our understanding of the disease has long been obscured by biases that cause so many to disregard it as simply the consequence of bad personal choices. These biases are so pervasive that they’ve made their way into healthcare policy and now impact individuals’ ability to receive the care they need. In reality, obesity, just like other chronic diseases, is caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that only seem to be worsening in recent years.

Currently written into New York law is exclusionary and biased language that harms patients covered under Medicaid.  It specifies that Medicaid “will not cover any drug which has weight reduction as its sole clinical use.” This kind of language is unacceptable given that obesity is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. and is impacted by so many external social factors. Obesity impacts millions of adults and requires proactive efforts by the government and healthcare experts to reduce the potential lifelong impacts. The first step in achieving this is ensuring that we use careful and accurate language in our public policy.

This is especially important given that communities of color, who are most dependent on Medicaid, experience higher rates of obesity. Over 40% of Black and Hispanic Americans are experiencing obesity, leaving them vulnerable to high blood pressure, certain cancers, arthritis and sleep apnea. Like so many other health conditions, obesity can snowball into a cascade of medical complications if not treated.

The good thing is that we already have medications that have been proven to be incredibly effective at aiding weight loss and reducing the risk of associated chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Increasing coverage and access to anti-obesity medications (AOMs) is a pivotal step in working to improve overall public health for those covered by Medicaid.

The administration must take action to remove this harmful biased language and include AOMs in the range of treatment options available to those covered by Medicaid. Doing so is the first step in working to achieve greater health equity and alleviate the disproportionate impacts of obesity on communities of color that depend on Medicaid for health care coverage. Obesity is already a difficult disease to live with, those afflicted with it should not have to worry about their health coverage being jeopardized by outdated social stigmas.