Federal Expansion of Obesity Medications through Medicare and Medicaid Fact Sheet

by OCAN

April 2026 UPDATE—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a historic expansion of obesity treatment coverage for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in December 2025.

This expansion will be implemented through two demonstration programs: the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge and the BALANCE (Better Approaches to Lifestyle and Nutrition for Comprehensive hEalth) Model, administered by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). This fact sheet provides details on the implementation of the programs.