A group of nationwide Hispanic and health organizations have renewed calls to expand Medicaid coverage for weight loss drugs, arguing it would reduce obesity-related healthcare disparities in the state.
The push comes as New Mexico’s Medicaid program grapples with the increasingly widespread use — and, therefore, rising cost — of weight loss drugs. As I reported last week, the state’s Medicaid program in 2025 spent $38.7 million on Ozempic, just one drug in a class known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists — or GLP-1s — used to treat Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other conditions. That’s up more than 34% since just the year before, and more than double from 2023.
In a letter sent Oct. 1 to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, leaders from the National Hispanic Health Foundation, National Hispanic Council on Aging, League of United Latin American Citizens, American Diabetes Association and MANA, a National Latina Organization, urged the governor to budget state funds to expand access to GLP-1s for Medicaid customers.
“GLP-1s have proven to be among the most effective treatments for obesity ever seen. They represent a genuine shift in how obesity, and the chronic diseases it drives, can be prevented and treated,” the letter stated. “We have a real opportunity for New Mexico’s Medicaid program to get ahead of costs it otherwise absorbs later, in the form of diabetes, heart disease, and other downstream conditions.”
Obesity rates have been on the rise in New Mexico for the past decade, increasing from 26% in 2013 to 35% in 2023, according to data from the state Department of Health. That’s consistent with nationwide trends, but it’s also cause for concern for health advocates, given that people who are obese are more likely to develop other chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
But obesity rates lay bare broader health inequities in New Mexico. Rates are higher among the state’s Native American and Hispanic residents, in rural communities and for households making less than $25,000 per year, state data shows.
Obesity isn’t just a matter of personal responsibility, either. Experts say the root causes are complex and greatly influenced by socioeconomic status, health literacy, food availability and infrastructure for physical activity.
The state Medicaid program — which insures two in five New Mexicans — does cover some weight loss drugs to treat obesity, according to the state Health Care Authority, which administers Medicaid in New Mexico. In most cases, however, patients must have a body mass index — or a height-to-weight ratio — over 40 to be approved for those medications.
The Medicaid program also covers Ozempic when the drug is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea and a handful of other conditions. While its name has become synonymous with weight loss medication, Ozempic has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat obesity.
The organizations in their letter to Lujan Grisham encouraged urgent action — before her successor takes the reins in 2027. State agencies are developing their budgets now for fiscal year 2028, and they argue those budgets should account for expanded Medicaid coverage of weight loss drugs.
That might be a tough ask. While New Mexico’s coffers are in good shape — bolstered by an oil and gas windfall — the state is bracing for the implementation of the 2025 federal reconciliation bill, a massive Republican tax and spending measure signed into law last year that will slash taxes and discretionary spending through 2034, with cuts to Medicaid among its central cost-saving efforts.
“As New Mexico prepares for its next chapter, we look forward to continuing the work and building on that progress, expanding Medicaid coverage of GLP-1 medications for obesity, and ensuring that communities of color and other populations disproportionately affected by obesity have equitable access to these important treatments,” the letter stated.
Margaret O’Hara reports on issues affecting healthy communities in New Mexico. Her work is funded by a grant from Anchorum Health Foundation. Anchorum will not have any role in editorial decisions. The New Mexican and its Public Service Journalism Fund retain full editorial control. Philanthropically funded stories by The New Mexican are made available to all readers without a paywall.
