CAHC’s Joel White spoke with Inside Health Policy about the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) and if it means savings for GLP-1 drugs to treat obesity.
“We’re hearing talk of a markup on innovation in Ways and Means, maybe before August, where (TROA) could be on that docket,” Joel White, president of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, told Inside Health Policy.
White said the biggest obstacle to the bill will be the cost, but members have been working hard on the bill and looking at different “dials” to overcome the high-cost estimate in an initial report by CBO that examined a 10-year time frame.
To overcome the CBO barrier, White said it is possible members could split the bill or add coverage parameters.
But White said that CBO is not fully accounting for the cost savings of fewer hospitalizations and fewer physician office visits due to coverage of the products reducing obesity.
“Sometimes you do the right thing regardless of what CBO says, I think that’s kind of one of these instances. So, I know they’re trying to figure out those dials, I’m hopeful that they say, ‘CBO be damned, we’re going to go forward and do the right thing for patients,’” White said.