Popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are becoming much more affordable for millions of older adults starting Wednesday, July 1, as Medicare begins to cover them - for now.

The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge is a temporary pilot program that allows eligible Medicare recipients to get blockbuster anti-obesity medications like Wegovy and Zepbound for $50 a month.

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Medicare is federal health insurance for people who are 65 or older. The GLP-1 Bridge is temporary because current federal law doesn't allow Medicare Part D - the part that helps pay for prescriptions drugs - to cover medications prescribed purely for weight loss. (Medicare does cover GLP-1 drugs when they're prescribed for Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other health problems.)

 In order to get it permanent, it literally takes an act of Congress. Congress has to change the law,  said NBC News medical contributor Dr. John Torres on TODAY.


The temporary plan is a workaround to give Medicare recipients quicker access to the medications, he added.

Almost 40% of Americans over age 65 have obesity, according to government statistics.

GLP-1 drugs are effective at helping people lose weight by reducing appetite and cravings. But they can also cost hundreds of dollars a month without insurance.

So the government is trying out what it calls a  short-term demonstration  to test access to GLP-1 drugs for Medicare recipients.

Many people in the Medicare population probably stand to experience substantial benefit from these drugs, says Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and professor at the Yale School of Medicine.

 I'm tremendously excited that we're addressing the access and affordability issues for people so that they have that option,  Krumholz, director of the Yale New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, tells TODAY.com.

 (But) the older you are, the less evidence there is from any trial about you, because most of these trials haven't really enrolled people over 70 or 80, so 

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