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A professional in-home caregiver lost her coverage for Zepbound. She soon realized getting it back was not straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like: \u2018What am I going to do? Hopefully I can just continue keeping this weight off.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Deborah Finley, 50, of Lodi, California<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Deborah Finley, 50, of Lodi, California, said her weight started to worry her during the early days of covid. That\u2019s when she noticed a lot of the people who were on ventilators or dying had something in common: obesity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a scary time,\u201d she said. As a single mom, she was afraid \u201cthat I wouldn\u2019t be here for my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n Finley had been diagnosed with sleep apnea and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and she was prediabetic. Her pulmonologist suggested bariatric surgery but couldn\u2019t get Finley\u2019s insurer to cover it.<\/p>\n She exercised and watched what she ate, but she wasn\u2019t losing weight and her mental health suffered.<\/p>\n She remembers telling her doctor: \u201cLook, I\u2019m at 223 pounds. I feel like I\u2019m hitting this wall. I don\u2019t know what else I can do.\u201d That\u2019s when he suggested Zepbound, a GLP-1 drug for obesity.<\/p>\n Finley said she still had to put in a lot of work to get healthy. But the drug helped. Her sleep apnea improved dramatically. She lost weight.<\/p>\n Then her insurance plan stopped covering Zepbound for weight loss at the end of last year. That\u2019s become common because GLP-1 drugs are expensive for health plans and the employers that pay for them.<\/p>\n \u201cThey started sending out notices to all the patients,\u201d Finley said. \u201cAnd they said: \u2018Look, we\u2019re pulling this medication. We\u2019re giving you 90 days\u2019 notice to figure out what you want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n From 2025 to 2026, 12 million people were on plans that dropped coverage<\/a> for Zepbound and 12 million had plans that dropped Wegovy, another GLP-1, according to research by GoodRx<\/a>, a website that helps patients find discounts on prescription drugs.<\/p>\n If you find yourself in this situation, these tips can help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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