Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Obesity is a serious disease that has become a health epidemic in the United States. This debilitating illness is only expected to continue to grow in the coming years. A December 2022 report from Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services shows that nearly 1 in 3 adults in Nevada live with obesity, up from 24.5in 2011. By 2030, it’s expected that nearly half of all adults in the United States will live with obesity and its many health-related complications.
Obesity also disproportionately affects historically marginalized communities such as Black, Latino, Native American, and those from a lower-income status. Nationally, nearly 50% of Black adults and 45% of Latino adults are obese, compared with about 42% of white counterparts. In Nevada in 2021, the highest obesity prevalence, 39.6%, was among those in the lowest income group.
I’ve spent nearly two decades as a pharmacy and public health professional providing direct patient care in our county health department, family medicine clinic and a free clinic. Advocating for public health and the profession of pharmacy to improve the health and wellness of vulnerable populations and the underserved is my passion and mission. From my work in the community, I’ve seen the gaps in obesity treatment as treatments and management advances have been made in the past several years. Gaps such as those who are able to access care and those who are not due to cost or knowledge and what it means for a patient’s health throughout their life. Reducing your body weight by just 10-15% can drastically improve the quality and quantity of life expectancy.
Despite the growing consensus and understanding in the scientific and medical communities around the disease of obesity, many policymakers continue to view obesity as a lifestyle choice, which is not the case. It’s time for Congress to recognize that obesity is a treatable chronic disease and that care be widely accessible using all proven treatment tools available. The return on this investment in the nation’s health should not be ignored because of the initial cost of some of the lifesaving medications that can treat this disease.
The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) is a step in that direction. It would allow Medicare to cover FDA-approved anti-obesity medications and allow these services to be offered by additional types of qualified health care providers. In other words, obesity disease care would finally be covered by Medicare, just like treatments for other chronic debilitating diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.
Increasing access to obesity medications would enhance health equity and significantly impact low-economy and communities of color more likely to live with obesity. Black and Latino populations are already disproportionately affected by chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, vaccine-preventable diseases such as respiratory illness, and many cancers. These diseases are likely complications from untreated obesity, further perpetuating health disparities.
Research has also proven that weight loss reduces obesity-related complications, improves physical functioning, offers mental health benefits, prevents future health care costs, and even improves well-being.
Innovative and lifesaving anti-obesity medicines are delivering never-before-seen improvements for people living with obesity compared with lifestyle interventions alone or bariatric surgery, which are often not enough to help people successfully achieve and sustain weight loss. By passing the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act, Nevada’s congressional delegation can enable health care providers to appropriately treat obesity as a disease, just like any other chronic disease, and give Nevadans access to all the tools they need for obesity care and a better quality of life.
Dr. Christina Madison is the founder and CEO of the Public Health Pharmacist and a clinical pharmacist specializing in public health with a focus on communicable diseases and gender-based health.
