Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2025 (TROA) (H.R.4231/S.1973)

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in America, with approximately one in three U.S. adults and one in six children and adolescents classified as obese.1 This chronic disease amounts to an estimated $173 billion in health care spending annually and significantly increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.2 Despite obesity being recognized as a complex medical condition requiring comprehensive treatment, current Medicare coverage for obesity management remains severely limited, leaving millions of beneficiaries without access to effective interventions.3


Currently, Medicare's coverage for obesity treatment is inadequate, covering only limited behavioral counseling while excluding coverage for FDA-approved anti-obesity medications and comprehensive weight management programs.4 This coverage gap forces Medicare beneficiaries to pay out-of-pocket for treatments that could prevent costly complications and improve quality of life. Research indicates that the cumulative social benefits from Medicare coverage for new obesity treatments over the next 10 years would reach almost $1 trillion, or roughly $100 billion per year.5

The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2025 would address this critical healthcare need by expanding access to regular obesity screenings, new health care specialists and chronic weight management medications for Medicare recipients.

Specifically, this legislation would:

  • Expand Medicare coverage to include intensive behavioral therapy that is provided by (1)a physician who is not a primary care physician or (2) other health care providers and approved counseling programs, if provided upon a referral from, and in coordination with, a physician or primary care practitioner; and
  • Allow coverage for FDA-approved anti-obesity medications under Medicare Part D when medically appropriate.

Read the full text of the bill and contact your legislators today!

  1. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Reducing obesity. Medicaid.gov. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/quality-of-care/quality-improvement-initiatives/reducing-obesity/index.html.
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.-b). About Obesity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/php/about/index.html.
  3. Gomez, G., & Stanford, F. C. (2018). US health policy and prescription drug coverage of FDA-approved medications for the treatment of obesity. International journal of obesity (2005), 42(3), 495–500. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.287.
  4. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Obesity behavioral therapy. Medicare.gov. https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/obesity-behavioral-therapy. v Sexton Ward, A., Tysinger, B., Nguyen, P., Goldman, D., & Lakdawalla, D. (2025, June 11). Benefits of Medicare coverage for weight loss drugs - April 18, 2023. USC Schaeffer. https://schaeffer.usc.edu/research/benefits-of-medicare-coverage-for-weight-loss-drugs/.