2022 Atlanta Board of Trustees Meeting

7173 S. Havana St #600-130 Centennial, CO 80112 P: 303.770.2526 | F: 303.779.4834 obesitymedicine.org

03/07/2022 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services Attention: CMS-4192-P Mail Stop: C4-26-05,

7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850

RE: Medicare Program; Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs Dear Administrator Brooks-LaSure: On behalf of the Obesity Medicine Association, I am writing to bring to your attention a gap in Medicare beneficiary access to important interventions to treat obesity. In 2013, the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease state with multiple pathophysiological aspects requiring a range of interventions for treatment and prevention. However, Medicare’s coverage rules for treatment of obesity predate recognition of obesity as a chronic disease and prohibit coverage of FDA-approved anti-obesity medications (AOMs) under a statutory provision excluding drugs used as “weight loss” or “weight gain” agents. This prohibition lumps the treatment of obesity with other cosmetic conditions including hair loss and is not consistent with current science which understands obesity as a deadly, chronic disease with significant consequences. All evidence- based medications that have been approved by the FDA for chronic weight management in people with obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI). Medicare Part D should cover AOMs so that seniors have access to the full continuum of obesity care. Obesity is a highly prevalent and serious chronic disease. • Obesity is a serious chronic disease that is caused by a range of biological, genetic and environmental factors. The American Medical Association has recognized obesity as a disease since 2013. • People living with obesity are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality, and obesity and overweight are major risk factors for a broad range of chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and at least 13 forms of cancers and premature death. • Obesity affects more than 100 million Americans. From 2017 to 2018, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity in adults was 42.4%. 1

1 Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults: United States, 2017–2018. NCHS Data Brief, no. 360. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2020.