Medicare’s Bridge program, which lets eligible plan participants get obesity drugs for a flat rate of $50 per month, is gaining ground, even as public policy experts say it still has a ways to go.
The program, which launched on July 1, 2026, and is scheduled to run through December 2027, helps people with obesity who otherwise wouldn’t qualify through their Medicare Part D drug plan, which doesn’t cover weight-loss prescription drugs. Under Bridge, Medicare recipients with specific conditions, like high blood pressure, diabetes or uncontrollable hypertension, among other afflictions, may qualify. Under the program, covered federal Food and Drug Administration GLP-1 weight-loss drugs include Foundayo, Wegovy, and Zepbound.
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While no solid usage numbers exist, the program already has at least 200,000 takers, according to Jeremy Shane, a non-resident scholar at the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service, in comments to NPR.
“Before Bridge started, Medicare had estimated roughly about 4 million Medicare recipients might qualify for the program,” Shane noted. “And so if you figure this is 200,000 and, you know, there might be as many as twice as many that are out there through other chain drugstores and other prescription pharmacies.”
Medicare hasn’t released any budget numbers, but an independent analysis by KFF, based on the estimated 3.8 million Part D enrollees eligible for the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge as of 2023, indicates between 10% and 25% of enrollees are using the program. For Medicare, the cost range is between $1.3 billion and $3.3 billion (calculated at $245 net monthly, after subtracting the $50 co-pay). If up to 50% to 75% of eligible enrollees entered Bridge, program costs would skyrocket to between $6.7 billion and $10 billion, KFF reported.
Will more Medicare recipients take a bite out of the Bridge weight loss apple?
Experts say 200,000 Bridge prescriptions in under 60 days likely points to significant pent-up demand for Medicare-backed weight-loss drug care. “When a medication suddenly becomes $50, and patients rush to get it, the price was clearly acting as a gatekeeper,” Bidwell Cranage, a board-certified family nurse practitioner and the founder of Bidwell Health, told Moneywise. “The clinical demand didn’t appear overnight, but user affordability has been an impactor.”
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Other healthcare analysts say the Bridge program’s growing numbers could create major issues for Medicare if it pulls the rug out from under program users when the clock runs out in 2027.
“For Bridge, the real risk isn’t the affordability cliff in the abstract; it’s what people do about it, ” Phil Rosen, director of support and operations at Florida-based Lighting Step Technologies, a unified behavioral health SaaS company, told Moneywise.
According to Rosen, every time a legitimate weight loss drug access channel has tightened before, with the 2022-24 GLP-1 shortage being the clearest example, people who lose affordable, legal access don’t just stop treatment; they go looking for alternatives.
“That could include compounded drug versions through pharmacies of varying legitimacy, or unregulated sellers online,” he noted. “Build a routine for 200,000-plus people at $50 per month, then remove it in 18 months, and you’ve primed a population to look for a cheaper path the moment it does.”
Long-term external program benefits could be in play
Healthcare experts say the generally positive weight-loss outcomes tied to Medicare’s Bridge could provide a big payoff, especially for program users and the nation’s healthcare budget.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t judge this program by pounds lost,” Cranage said. “The benefits of this program should be viewed from a holistic lens.”
That means taking a closer look at hospitalizations, cardiovascular events, progression to diabetes, mobility, medication burden and total healthcare spending, all of which could improve overall healthcare. “A treatment does not necessarily have to save Medicare money dollar-for-dollar to be valuable,” Cranage noted.
There’s a prevention story to tell, as well, which could further strengthen public policy efforts to extend, or create another version of Bridge that goes beyond 2027. “For a demonstration program, tighter eligibility makes economic sense,” Cranage said. “Yet medically, there’s a contradiction in waiting for some patients with obesity to develop additional disease before making treatment affordable. Prevention works best before the complications happen.”
The deadline itself may be one of the Bridge program’s biggest problems.
“We’re potentially helping people obtain a medication they may need on an ongoing basis and giving them access at $50 a month,” Carolyn Cahn, a retired nurse and former commander at the U.S. Public Health Service, told Moneywise. “What happens on January 1, 2028, if that affordable access disappears? If someone loses significant weight, improves her health and then can’t afford to continue treatment, we’ve potentially created an affordability cliff.”
Cahn said that Medicare should be thinking about that now, rather than waiting until the end of 2027. “Starting people on long-term treatment without knowing whether they’ll be able to continue accessing it raises both financial and patient-care concerns,” Cahn noted.
There’s also the clinical question of what happens when treatment stops. “Studies have shown substantial weight regain in many patients after GLP-1 therapy is discontinued, along with reversal of some of the improvements in blood pressure, blood sugar and other metabolic measures,” Cahn added. “That makes patient education even more important while people are taking these medications.”
Here’s how to check and see if you’re eligible for Bridge
Medicare recipients can check whether they qualify for Medicare GLP-1 Bridge at Medicare.gov/glp1bridge, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) with questions or to get more information.
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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: 200,000 Medicare users sprint to CVS and Walgreens to snatch up $50 obesity drugs — millions more are still missing out
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