A new study led by Dima Qato, MPH, PhD, of the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics suggests that publicly insured individuals who are most likely to benefit from new drugs for diabetes and obesity are less likely to get them than those with private insurance.

Prescription fills for semaglutide drugs increased by more than 400% between January 2021 and December 2023, according to research out Friday in JAMA Health Forum.

Studies show that semaglutide — approved first for Type 2 diabetes, then for weight loss — also improves blood pressure and reduces cardiovascular disease. Those problems plague millions of Americans, but the lion’s share of prescriptions went to people with private insurance.

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