The Economics of Weight Loss Drugs, Thinness, and Class Signaling

The Money with Katie Show

Money with Katie

Self-improvement, Education, Business, Investing, How To

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2025

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’ve all heard about Ozempic. But there are the GLP-1s we colloquially call “Ozempic” (see also: Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound) and then there’s the cultural role of Ozempic. Given the price of these drugs, barriers to access, and class implications of weight stigma, this topic presents a unique opening to talk about inequality in health outcomes and the profitable business of individualizing social problems. In part one of this rare two-part series, we’re covering: The wage penalties associated with (and relationship between) weight and women, and the parallels between the American attitudes about thinness and wealth The Danish pharma company that put Europe’s entire economy on its back A conversation with a 12-year veteran of drug and device advocacy who said some of the surrounding issues represent, and I quote, “everything wrong with health policy in our country,” especially given the shortages, costs, and online pharmacies springing up to bridge that gap with non-FDA-approved solutions Let’s take a peek at the inside the business of weight loss drugs, and join us here next week for part two. Transcripts, show notes, production credits, and more can be found at: https://moneywithkatie.com/weight-loss-drugs. Money with Katie’s mission is to be the intersection where the economic, cultural, and political meet the tactical, practical, personal finance education everyone needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.2	So we've got a potentially huge financial impact on the system.
0:36.9	If the system does not necessarily want to
0:39.3	bear that cost, they are going to pass it onto you in the forms of increased premiums. And that
0:44.1	will not be just for people on these drugs. That will be for everybody. Some payers we are seeing
0:50.0	or some plans have made the decision they don't want to pass those costs on to all of their
0:56.4	insureds. So they've declined to cover them. So big, big, big financial implications.
1:04.8	So there's OZempic and the other GLP1 agonists that have the same or similar active ingredients that often get grouped
1:13.1	into the category that we colloquially call OZempic. And then there's the discourse about
1:20.5	and the cultural role of OZempic.
1:23.5	OZempic, it is literally the hottest drug in the country right now. But what happens when you stop taking it?
1:30.3	Today and next week in this rare two-part series, I am interested in applying the lens of money and class politics to the role of GLP1 agonists.
1:42.3	To understand how the culture we exist within determines what type of
1:48.1	lives we get to lead, how our appearance affects our access to resources in that context,
1:53.8	and ultimately how we learn to treat ourselves as a result. As has become common knowledge now, these drugs are incredibly
	...

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