by Julie O’Donoghue, Louisiana Illuminator
June 26, 2025

Gov. Jeff Landry struck language from the Louisiana budget plan that could have provided state employees and public school teachers with insurance coverage for popular weight-loss medication over the next year. 

The governor does not think the state would be able to cover the cost for the obesity drugs on a long-term basis.

“These drugs can cost $1,000 a month per person,” Landry wrote in his letter to state lawmakers about the veto. “Even temporary coverage could set expectations for long-term use that Louisiana simply cannot afford.”

The provision would have affected those enrolled in state health insurance plans with the Louisiana Office of Group Benefits. The office provides coverage to 223,000 people, including state employees, public school teachers, retirees and their dependents.

It’s not clear how many would have been given access to the weight-loss medication before the governor’s veto. 

The struck-out language called for those health plans to “incorporate semaglutide medications for the purposes of weight loss” into their pharmacy benefits, but only if it didn’t cost the state self-insured plans more money. 

The coverage was also only guaranteed for the 2025-26 budget cycle, which runs from July 1 through June 30, 2026.

Semaglutide is sold under the brand names Ozempic, Rybelus and Wegovy and has become a popular weight-loss tool in recent years. It was originally developed to treat Type II diabetes and is supposed to be taken indefinitely. Patients are expected to regain weight they lost if they stop using the medication.

Prescription prices can lower when semaglutide is initially prescribed because of rebates drug manufacturers offer. But as Landry observed, the medication is very expensive, especially if those discounts are discontinued. 

Louisiana also has a higher-than-average obesity rate of 40%, compared with just 32.8% nationally, which means more people would likely qualify for the treatment. 

“If just a small portion of eligible employees begin using them, the long-term costs could quickly climb into the tens of millions,” the governor wrote in his veto message. 

North Carolina and West Virginia initially offered to cover weight-loss drugs for their state employees but ended up cutting the benefit when the price tags for doing so skyrocketed. Connecticut and Illinois have continued to offer weight-loss drug coverage to their state employees – but at a cost of at least $40 million and $210 million, respectively. 

Even if it can’t be used for weight loss, Landry said state health care plans will continue to offer semaglutide to Type II diabetes patients.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

This article presents the governor’s decision to veto coverage of weight-loss drugs for state employees primarily through the lens of fiscal conservatism, emphasizing concerns about long-term state budget impacts and cost containment. The tone is largely factual, quoting Gov. Jeff Landry’s reasoning about affordability and citing examples from other states. However, the framing focuses on cost and budget restraint rather than public health benefits or advocacy for expanded healthcare access, which aligns more closely with a center-right or fiscally conservative viewpoint. The coverage does not appear to push a partisan agenda but reflects the governor’s policy stance and conservative fiscal priorities.