Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY)’s blockbuster obesity drug, Zepbound, can now be covered by Medicare plans for obstructive sleep apnea.
A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesperson, cited by CNBC, confirmed on Wednesday that coverage applied after its approval for the most common sleep-related breathing disorder in December.
Under such Medicare Part D rules, the state healthcare programme could only cover obesity drugs if they were used for an additional medically accepted purpose, they said.
Zepbound is currently not available under Medicare and a string of other insurance plans for weight loss as a result.
However, inclusion for sleep apnea is set to allow broader access to the roughly US$1,000 per month injection.
This mimics hormones that suppress appetite, similar to Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO)’s Wegovy, and has seen demand surge over the past year.
According to Eli Lilly, Zepbound’s approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for obesity and moderate-to-severe forms of obstructive sleep apnea made it the first to be cleared for some affected 20 million people.
Joe Biden’s administration in November proposed rules to allow Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs for obesity patients, however president-elect Donald Trump’s stance remains unclear.