France's public health system will soon start to cover most of the cost of weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro for severely obese patients.
The government has signed off on partially reimbursing patients who are prescribed Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro injectable GLP-1 medications, which have gained widespread attention as anti-obesity treatments.
The announcement was made official on Thursday, and reimbursement is expected to be effective by mid-June, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Thursday in an interview with TF1 television.
Wegovy and Mounjaro have been available in France for weight loss by prescription since 2024, but they had not been approved for reimbursement by the national health insurance system until now. That left patients paying the full cost of €300 per month.
The weight-loss drugs will now be reimbursed at the standard prescription drug coverage of 65 percent, though Rist said the vast majority of eligible patients have supplemental insurance that will cover 100 percent of the cost.
One million potential patients
The reimbursement will apply to people with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35 and at least one comorbidity, or a BMI of at least 40 regardless of comorbidities.
"We are the first country in the European Union to provide reimbursement for patients who need it, under general law, on a permanent basis," Rist said.
GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, help people feel fuller by mimicking a hormone naturally released after eating. Some also slow down digestion, making patients feel full for longer.
In June 2025, France allowed all doctors, rather than just specialists such as endocrinologists, to prescribe the drugs.
As of late January, more than 70,000 people were being treated with Mounjaro. Ozempic, another drug widely used for weight loss, remains available in France only to treat diabetes.
With an estimated 18 percent of the French population considered obese, up to a million people could be eligible for the reimbursement, which Rist estimates will cost the state €100 million per year.
(with newswires)
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