KFF Health News

KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024: The public’s use and views of GLP-1 drugs

May 13, 2024

The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds that about one in eight adults (12%) say they have ever taken a GLP-1 agonist—including 6% who say they are currently taking such a drug. The share who report ever taking these drugs rises to four in ten (43%) among adults who have been told by a doctor that they have diabetes, a quarter who have been told they have heart disease, and one in five (22%) who have been told by a doctor that they are overweight or obese in the past five years.

Key Findings

• Public awareness of GLP-1 drugs has increased in the past year, with about one-third (32%) of adults now saying they have heard “a lot” about these drugs, up from 19% in July 2023.
• Most adults who have taken GLP-1 drugs say they took them to treat a chronic condition including diabetes or heart disease (62%), while about four in ten say they took them primarily to lose weight.
• About half (54%) of all adults who have taken GLP-1 drugs say it was difficult to afford the cost, including one in five (22%) who say it was “very difficult.” While most insured adults who have taken these drugs say their insurance covered at least part of the cost, even among insured adults about half (53%) say they were difficult to afford.
• While 8% of adults ages 65 and older say they have taken a GLP-1 medication for a chronic condition, just 1% say they have ever taken a GLP-1 drug to lose weight, which may reflect Medicare’s lack of coverage for prescription drugs used for weight loss. Nearly four in ten (37%) adults ages 65 and older report being told by a doctor they are overweight or obese in the past five years.
• With Medicare currently prohibited by law from covering prescription drugs used for weight loss, six in ten adults say they think Medicare should cover the cost of these drugs when prescribed for weight loss for people who are overweight, including more than half of Democrats, independents and Republicans. Similar shares of the public continue to support Medicare coverage of these drugs for weight loss even after hearing arguments for and against this proposal.

Source:

Alex Montero, Grace Sparks, Marley Presiado, and Liz Hamel. (2024, May 10). KFF Health News. KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024: The Public's Use and Views of GLP-1 Drugs. https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/kff-health-tracking-poll-may-2024-the-publics-use-and-views-of-glp-1-drugs/