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The story
According to a report from German public broadcaster, the head of Barmer—one of Germany’s largest public health insurers—has suggested that weight-loss injections like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy could soon be covered under statutory health insurance. The topic surfaced in the German-language Lemmy community c/dach, splitting opinion. Skeptics raised the “yo-yo effect,” where weight returns once injections stop, while others argued the cost of the shots is cheaper than treating obesity-related complications. The thread grew lively after one commenter shared a coworker’s story of losing weight from 138kg to 105kg on the medication.
According to the head of Barmer (one of the big public insurance funds), weight-loss injections might soon be covered by insurance.
The drug companies must be thrilled. Meanwhile we statutory insurance members get to foot the bill.
They water down and delay the sugar tax, but sure, let’s buy everyone skinny jabs. Exactly my kind of joke.
Source: tagesschau.de / Original article here
What people said
But since the insurance funds are broke, naturally the thing they'll "save money" on is psychotherapy coverage instead.
I can't even anymore. Is literally everyone, everywhere, just blinded by money and power, totally unable to see reality?!
Out of curiosity I asked my doctor about the yo-yo effect. Apparently it's mostly caused by people stopping the injections abruptly instead of tapering off gradually. On top of that, a big factor is that patients' lifestyles often never actually change in the first place.
At the end of the day, regular injections still work out cheaper than staying obese.
Got a source for that?
No idea, forgot to mention that was just a guess.
A coworker of mine was 138kg before starting the injections. By 43 he'd already had both knees replaced, plus sleep apnea and a bunch of other obesity-related health problems, constantly getting sick. Now he's been on Mounjaro (I think that's what it was) for two years and is down to 105kg. He just went to a sleep clinic to get checked on whether he even still needs his apnea machine. Hasn't taken a single sick day all year.
Yeah, but that's not actually my argument. That said, personally I do think the injections should be covered by insurance—for certain cases of obesity they're a genuinely effective, meaningful treatment.
Do the math yourself. Wegovy runs about €170 a month. Sure, that's not nothing, but compared to treating all the complications that come with obesity, it's actually not that expensive. Diabetes treatment alone isn't cheap on a monthly basis either.
Well, that's just logical though. If you lose weight purely because the injection kills your appetite, without changing any of your lifestyle habits, of course it's going to come right back once you stop.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Most healthcare coverage in Germany runs through statutory health insurance (GKV), and what gets covered depends heavily on insurers’ finances and broader social consensus. Barmer is one of Germany’s largest statutory insurance funds by membership, so remarks from its chief carry real weight for future policy debate. What split the thread was how to weigh the “yo-yo effect”—the tendency for weight to return once injections stop. Skeptics worried that funding these shots would mean cuts elsewhere, such as to psychotherapy coverage, while supporters argued that at roughly €170 a month, the drug cost could actually be a bargain compared to treating obesity-related complications. As several commenters noted, doctors reportedly attribute rebound weight gain mainly to abruptly stopping treatment or failing to change lifestyle habits—not to any flaw in the drug itself—leaving a debate too complicated for a simple yes-or-no.
*This article is a translated and edited excerpt from a thread on the overseas forum Lemmy c/dach, “Abnehmspritze könnte laut Barmer-Chef bald Kassenleistung werden.” Responsibility for the translation lies with this site’s editorial team.
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