It's not just talk. Americans' spending on GLP-1 drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy has skyrocketed in the last five years. Spending hit $71.7 billion in 2023 for a 500% increase from $13.7 billion in 2018, according to a research letter published this month in JAMA Network Open, described by the Washington Post. The assessed data, showing a 62% growth rate in spending between 2022 and 2023, captured 85% of retail sales and 74% of outpatient prescription fills. Spending on Ozempic alone increased from $400 million in 2018 to $26.4 billion in 2023.
GLP-1 drugs approved to treat Type 2 diabetes accounted for 89% of all spending in 2023. That same year, semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) products made up 70% of all spending on GLP-1 drugs in the US, per the Post. The annual growth rate of semaglutide spending has climbed from 2.1% in 2021 to 12.8% in 2024, according to data from Evernorth, the health services division of insurer Cigna. It found weight management drugs accounted for 47% of the total increase in drug spending. GLP-1s approved for weight loss saw a 210% increase in 2023 and 149% in 2024, according to the data.
These trends come amid calls for greater access to GLP-1 drugs. In a recent essay at the New York Times, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, a stroke survivor, describes the "life-changing benefits" of the drugs that can "lower blood sugar, cholesterol, heart rate and heart inflammation." He says he was prescribed Mounjaro in July and now feels "a decade younger." But without insurance coverage, such drugs can cost up to $1,000 per month, Fetterman writes, urging the Trump administration to adopt former President Biden's plan to expand coverage to 7.5 million Americans on Medicare or Medicaid—"a necessary response to a national health crisis." (More GLP-1 stories.)
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