00:00 Mitchell Peters falls into a grey area.
00:04 He's not a diabetic, but uses the drug Ozempic daily.
00:07 He thinks it's saved his life.
00:10 My liver functions improved, my cholesterol's gone right down to a point where it's not
00:14 a concern anymore.
00:16 My blood pressure was kind of sitting in that hypertension range.
00:19 The use of Ozempic, developed to help people with diabetes, exploded as a weight loss drug
00:24 in 2021.
00:26 Mr Peters' doctor prescribed it to him to prevent obesity-related health problems.
00:30 She was concerned about my overall health, my weight.
00:32 I was sitting in the obese category.
00:34 But because he's not a diabetic, he has to rely on his private health insurance.
00:39 He can't access rebates under the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.
00:42 Private health insurer, HBF, has limited or removed rebates for medications containing
00:48 semaglutide.
00:49 It says 40% of off-schedule pharmaceutical claims since 2021 were for the weight loss
00:54 medication prescribed to just 3% of policyholders.
00:58 But some of the bigger private insurers like Bupa, Medibank and NIB are taking a different
01:03 approach, either keeping rebates the same or making them accessible under certain coverage
01:08 plans.
01:09 NIB believes health insurers can play a crucial role in preventative treatment.
01:14 Medications are changing the way that we think about diabetes and weight management, but
01:18 also cardiovascular risk management.
01:21 There's also a lot of emerging evidence for application in other health areas, so we're
01:25 watching that with great promise.
01:27 Mr Peters hopes Ozempic will become more widely available, offering early intervention for
01:32 potentially fatal health issues.
01:34 (laughs)
01:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments