Anyone who thought this would be a passing thing was way off the mark. As prices of GLP-1 medicines are falling, their use is rising. As Stat News notes, we now have more people using these medicines than the entire population of Texas.

This rising trend occurs against a background of costs that are still too high for many people to bear. And so the costs are continuing to drop and insurance coverage – though uneven and sometimes yanked away – continues to improve.

Why? Simply because we have barely started, barely scratched the surface of need for good medical obesity care.

KFF Polling on GLP-1 Use

In a new tracking poll of American adults completed November 2 and published yesterday, KFF found nearly one in five Americans (18%) have now tried a GLP-1 medicine. That’s up 50% from the number who said they had used one when KFF last did this polling six months ago.

What’s more, they found that a good number are currently taking one of these medicines – 12% of adults. So it is not safe to assume people will not keep taking these medicines. Persistence with therapy depends on many factors and all of those factors are still playing out.

These data fly in the face of suggestions that the use of these medicines is motivated by frivolous interest in losing a little weight. In fact, 84% of the people who have ever used one of these medicines have had a conversation with a doctor telling them they have overweight, obesity, diabetes, or heart disease. Many of them are facing a combination of these factors.

In other words, the need is great.

Cost Barriers Influencing the Unmet Need

One can also see in this research that the unmet need remains significant. Among people who have not yet tried these medicines, more than one in five (22%) say they are somewhat or very interested in trying them. But no, these are not for everyone: 61% of the people who have not tried them say they are “not at all interested” in trying them.

Finally, it is plain in this research that, despite falling prices for these medicines, cost remains a significant issue. It’s not just an issue for GLP-1s. A quarter of all adults say they have difficulty paying for prescription medicines. More than half of the people using GLP-1s say they are difficult to afford. And cost is the top reason they give for stopping these medicines.

So, the need is great, use is rising, and even though prices are dropping, those prices remain high enough that access is a continuing problem. We are headed in the right direction and we have a long way to go.

Click here for more on the KFF survey results, here and here for further perspective.

Sun Rising on the Rosalia Building in Mt Lebanon, photograph by Ted Kyle / ConscienHealth