A new national AGA survey reveals 63% of Americans now view obesity as a chronic disease — not a personal failure. And more than 8 in 10 believe insurance should pay for medical treatment, including GLP-1 therapies and bariatric surgery.
Yet despite this shift, cost and lack of coverage remain the biggest barriers — leaving millions unable to access treatments that could prevent liver disease and other serious GI conditions.As obesity care reshapes GI practice, the policy gap is widening. If Congress doesn’t act on the long-stalled Treat and Reduce Obesity Act, patients—and GI clinicians—remain stuck.