KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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The new year means a new administration and new price negotiations for some medications.
Ozempic and Wegovy have been added to Medicare's list of drugs whose prices will be negotiated between drug makers and the government.
There's a lot of uncertainty on which direction the Trump administration will take on some policies as he and his administration return to office.
The coverage of medical costs is no exception to that list of policies.
Peter Mestad is good at keeping up with all the changes.
He's a volunteer Medicare counselor at KC Shepherd's Center, and he's on Medicare, too.
"You've got to keep up with at least annually with your drug plan," he said. "Most important thing is that we don't know what's going to happen (with negotiations)."
As a diabetic, Mestad says the cost of medication today is too high.
The Biden administration added Ozempic and Wegovy to Medicare's list of medications that will be considered for price negotiations. Those negotiations will now be handled by the Trump administration.
"It's a good thing for patients when that price goes down," Michael Fink, a pharmacist at Pharmacy of Grace, said. "There's a lot of patients that we have that have tried to use Ozempic or Wegovy and just haven't had the ability to pay for that medication, or the length of time it takes to get on one of those medications, and all the documentation."
According to Scripps News, Ozempic and Wegovy would be join a list of 25 drugs that could cost less after negotiations, and the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary said those 25 drugs make up a third of Medicare spending on prescriptions.
"Medicare will always probably be going through negotiations of drug pricing," Fink said.
And Mestad said the best way to achieve lower prices is through negotiation.
"Over a period of time, as those medicines are added to formularies and the price drops, then more and more people are going to be able to afford them," Mestad said.
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