Federal Judge Halts Colorado's First-in-the-Nation Enbrel Price Cap; Medicare to Offer Weight-Loss Drugs at $50 a Month

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Colorado from capping the price of Amgen's Enbrel, dealing a setback to state-level drug affordability efforts. Separately, a new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services program will make obesity medicines — including Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Foundayo — available to millions of older Americans for $50 a month. The two developments reflect the competing forces reshaping prescription drug access in the United States.

What Colorado's Drug Affordability Board Was Trying to Do

An upper payment limit is a price ceiling: a cap on the maximum amount patients and payers can be charged for a specific drug. The Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Board was created four years ago in direct response to rising prescription drug costs, and it is permitted to set these limits for most state residents on selected medicines. Its target in this case was Enbrel, Amgen's blockbuster treatment.

That move was described as first-in-the-nation — no other state had yet directly capped what residents pay for a specific branded drug. Colorado's board represented either a replicable model for pricing reform or a legal line to be contested in court, depending on which side of the debate you occupied.

How the Judge Ruled

A U.S. judge sided with Amgen, finding that the company is "likely to be significantly harmed" by the board's cap. The ruling pauses — but does not permanently strike down — the upper payment limit, leaving the board's action in legal limbo while the challenge is resolved. The outcome is described as a victory for the pharmaceutical industry.

Medicare's 18-Month Obesity Drug Trial

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is launching an 18-month trial that will, for the first time, cover weight-loss drugs as a standalone obesity treatment for Americans aged 65 and older. The program includes Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Foundayo and Zepbound, with patient costs capped at $50 a month. Eligible patients are estimated in the single-digit millions.

That price marks a substantial shift. In recent years, patients faced steep out-of-pocket costs for these medicines — a barrier that held even with insurance coverage. The $50 monthly cap brings what the program's backers call highly effective drugs to a population that has largely been priced out of them.