Access to Care

Access to Care2026-10-08T12:01:07-04:00

PRIORITY #1

Increase Access to Comprehensive and Quality Obesity Care for all People Living with Overweight and Obesity

Expanding access to comprehensive, guideline-concordant obesity care is essential to improving population health and reducing cardiometabolic disease burden. Robust evidence shows that comprehensive lifestyle support, FDA-approved obesity medications, and metabolic and bariatric procedures improve glycemia, blood pressure, lipid profiles, sleep apnea, and quality of life.¹²³⁴ Despite strong evidence, access to all components of care remains restricted due to outdated coverage criteria, lack of parity for medications, and limitations in Medicare, Medicaid, and private payer insurance benefits.⁵

  1. Comprehensive obesity treatment is essential for health care. Individuals living with obesity should have equitable access to the full spectrum of evidence-based interventions, including nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral support; FDA-approved pharmacotherapy; and metabolic and bariatric procedures.
  2. Multiple evidence-based treatments are available to treat obesity, including comprehensive lifestyle support, surgical interventions, and pharmacotherapy. Like other chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and type II diabetes, effective management of obesity requires ongoing, lifelong treatment. Importantly, obesity care optimally facilitates meaningful and sustained weight loss and, in doing so, the treatment and/or prevention of obesity-related complications. Therefore, patient obesity treatment goals prioritize improvements in overall health and quality of life, both current and future. ⁶ (Adapted)
  3. The health complications associated with obesity can start early in life, and the longer obesity is left untreated, the greater the cumulative burden of adverse health outcomes. Preventing excess weight gain has positive health benefits. Although prevention efforts are important, they may be insufficient for many people to avoid developing obesity. ⁶

  • Achieve parity and coverage access to comprehensive, patient-centered obesity care for all individuals, including behavioral and lifestyle interventions, FDA-approved medications, metabolic and bariatric surgery, and developing therapies such as endoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.
  • Modernize Medicare’s Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) benefit to increase access to registered dietitians, psychologists, and other qualified providers.⁵
  • Require parity coverage for guideline-concordant, FDA-approved obesity medications across payers.
  • Preserve equitable access to metabolic and bariatric procedures under 2022 ASMBS/ IFSO criteria.⁷
  • Integrate obesity-care quality metrics into value-based frameworks.
  • Support expanded access to comprehensive obesity care in chronic care models that ensure individuals are supported by a medical home.
  • Broaden care delivery modalities through telemedicine, group visits, and community organization programs to enhance interdisciplinary obesity care.

  1. Wilding JPH et al. NEnglJ Med. 2021;384:989–1002. 
  2. JastreboffAM et al. N Engl J Med. 2022;387:205–216. 
  3. Wadden TA et al. JAMA.2023;329:321–331.
  4. Rubino F et al. SurgObesRelat Dis. 2022;18:1345–1356. 
  5. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. NCD 210.12.
  6. International Obesity Collaborative. The 5 Principles of Obesity. Accessed at: https://www.obesity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IOC-5-Principles.pdf 
  7. Eisenberg D et al. SurgObesRelat  2022; 18( 22): 1-12 

Explore our latest efforts to expand access to evidence-based obesity care and remove barriers to treatment.

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Contact

The Obesity Society
9211 Corporate Boulevard, Suite 250
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: (301) 563-6526
Email: [email protected]

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