Alison Sexton Ward, a research scientist at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, has called for greater access to weight-loss medications like GLP-1. These drugs, which help patients lose 15% to 20% of their body weight, have significant outcomes that have not been achieved at scale. However, insurance coverage for these drugs remains limited. Research suggests that widespread access to these therapies could significantly benefit society, with young adults starting treatment at age 25-34 gaining nearly two years of life expectancy, reducing diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer, and Medicare beneficiaries who start treatment between the ages 65 and 74 expected to live longer and experience reduced time living with diabetes. The study also suggests that Medicare coverage alone would generate nearly $1 trillion in cumulative social benefits over the next decade.