Finding Wegovy can become a part-time job for patients, said Dr. Diana Thiara, medical director of the weight management clinic at the University of California, San Francisco.
One of Fitch's patients, Mike Bouboulis, has taken Saxenda, Mounjaro or Ozempic, a Novo diabetes drug with the same active ingredient as Wegovy, since around 2019. It became much harder for him to find the drugs in the past year, after their popularity exploded.“They all know what you’re calling for, and they all have the same answer: ‘I don’t know. We’ll see tomorrow,’" said the 35-year-old small business owner who lives outside Boston.
Doctors and patients say many insurers have stopped covering Ozempic and Mounjaro outside their approved use for diabetes. Some insurers and employers don't pay for Wegovy.Bouboulis, the Boston-area resident, said his insurer stopped covering Mounjaro earlier this year. He then tried switching back to Ozempic but found that also was no longer covered.
Davisson directs a weight-loss program in West Virginia, a state that consistently ranks as having one of the highest obesity rates in the country. The state's Medicaid program doesn't cover Wegovy, but neighboring Pennsylvania's does.