Medicare and Weight Loss
Medicare does not cover weight loss plans, including Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem. Nor does Medicare cover some fitness equipment, including treadmills or other expensive exercise equipment, when you're on Medicare. Some Medicare Advantage plans will cover them as long as they're deemed durable medical equipment (DMA). Examples of this might be an elliptical trainer or treadmill. Certain hospitals are covered when you sign up for a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. Those medications are usually only available through a physician's office. Some Medigap policies provide extra benefits if you enroll in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan even though you don't use those medications at home. For most people, the extra cost is greater when signing up for a Medicare weight loss program than the added Medicare costs of Part D premiums. Medicare does cover one type of weight loss program: loose weight. This means that it covers most of the devices, equipme...