If you want to lose weight, many times you will have to do a lot to achieve it. Change your diet, exercise and avoid the small and big sins of everyday life. That is why the demand for the so-called Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy slimming injections is also very high. The kilos are lost with weekly injections, usually in the abdominal area. Celebrities like Elon Musk and Robbie Williams also swear by it.

Weight loss injections are only available by private prescription.

Currently, weight loss injections are only available with a private prescription. FOCUS online calculations show that the estimated cost of slimming injections to, for example, lose ten kilograms is 1,600 euros in extreme cases. Patients should expect to pay 300 euros per month. Due to the current bottleneck in Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, there are even more. The patients themselves bear the costs and partial reimbursement by health insurance companies is not possible.

Experts want weight loss injections to be covered by health insurance companies

Pharmaceutical companies, specialists and politicians want to change this soon. “This needs to be adjusted,” Ilya Yuffa, CEO of American manufacturer Eli Lilly, said recently. The pharmaceutical company received approval for its Mounjaro slimming injection in late December. At the same time, the company is working on a weight loss pill that should hit the market in the coming months.

Politicians are also siding with pharmaceutical companies. Obese patients should be reimbursed at least for the cost of the slimming injection. This is what Andrew Ullmann, FDP health policy spokesperson, suggests. “These are people who are seriously ill, with serious illnesses related to obesity.” From a medical perspective, it would make sense to give these patients a combination of weight-loss injections, a change in diet, and exercise.

“The injection can prevent subsequent illnesses and suffering; it would be inhumane to refuse it,” says Jörg Puchta, an endocrinologist and hormone expert in Munich, in an interview with the newspaper “Bild.” And even more: the fact that health insurance companies refuse to cover additional payments “has to change.”

This is why the health insurance company refuses to pay

Health insurance companies view this with critical eyes. Because the main thing here is the huge costs. With new weight loss injections, health insurance costs could increase dramatically. Therefore, the costs would have to be borne by employees, pensioners and taxpayers. The largest increase in health insurance contributions is already planned for 2025.

According to estimates by the federal association AOK, the injections could cause a financial hole of 50 billion euros a year in the coffers. The calculation refers to 19 percent of the population with a body mass index (BMI) above 30, if all morbidly obese adults in Germany were treated with it. The invoice has been issued, but the costs are not believed to be covered in the near future. Sufficient data is missing.

But it is also true that more and more pharmaceutical companies are entering the market and launching injection syringes. Costs are expected to fall dramatically in the coming years. This could cause health insurance companies to reconsider their approach. The Federal Ministry of Health also wants to wait and see and has not yet given the green light to cover the costs. There are still no long-term studies that demonstrate its real effectiveness. If the active ingredient can prevent, for example, heart attacks, strokes or diabetes, it would make sense to cover the costs.