Podbit · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Starting July 1, every Medicare senior in America can buy Lilly's obesity medication for $50 out-of-pocket per month. This single policy shift could extend GLP-1 access to 70 million people, and represents a meaningful inflection point for both public health and Lilly's volume strategy.
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At 18:10 · chapter starts 16:10
The pricing question is the sharpest edge of the conversation. Galloway frames it as a contradiction: Lilly has a fiduciary duty to shareholders to maintain pricing power, but the people who need these drugs most — lower-income, obese Americans — are least likely to afford them. Ricks reframes the economics: unlike most specialty drugs where demand is inelastic, GLP-1 demand is highly elastic — drop the price and volume surges. So lowering the price actually serves shareholders, not just patients. He details LillyDirect, a direct-to-consumer channel that bypasses pharmacy benefit managers and lets individuals buy at institutional prices — Zepbound is now $399/month, down 60% since launch. The new oral drug Foundeo starts at $159. Ricks then describes the Mississippi Medicaid deal — a state where 78–79% of adults are obese and Medicaid enrollment is the nation's highest — as a proof point of what systemic change can look like. And starting July 1, all 70 million Medicare seniors can access Lilly's obesity drug for $50/month. The final challenge: trust. Because pharma has historically been extractive on pricing, Ricks admits there's a genuine trust gap to overcome.
Eli Lilly has invested approximately $50 billion in new manufacturing facilities in the United States to address drug supply shortages.
The direct-purchase price for Zepbound has dropped 60% since launch to $399/month through LillyDirect, with the oral Foundeo starting at $159.
Mississippi has one of the highest adult obesity rates in the US at 78–79%, the highest Medicaid enrollment, and is one of the poorest states — but Lilly just struck a deal to supply its drugs through their Medicaid program.
Starting July 1, every Medicare senior in America can access Lilly's obesity medication for just $50 out-of-pocket per month, potentially impacting 70 million people.
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