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The Obesity Action Coalition has had an exciting and busy start to 2024! Each new year brings new legislative sessions and opportunities to expand access to care and stop weight bias. Now more than ever before, obesity is being recognized as a disease and conversations about obesity care are being elevated. Change can be slow, but successful advocacy requires perseverance. Read on to learn about our advocacy work and how you can get involved in making the world a better place for people with obesity.

Quick Actions:

Help #StopWeightBias by urging the St. Paul Saints to change their new mascot’s name from ‘Ozempig.’
Urge your members of Congress to support the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA).
Urge the FDA to ensure that medications are safe and effective for people living with obesity and that ALL clinical trials include people with obesity.
Hear from OAC advocates in a special episode of Fresh Perspectives!
Want to get more involved? Share your story and fill out the OAC Advocacy Survey today!

Call to #OACAction!

The Minnesota minor league baseball team, the St. Paul Saints, recently announced the name of their mascot as ‘Ozempig’ and gave the pig a backstory of trying to lose weight. Despite pushback, the baseball team has decided to stick with the offensive name. The St. Paul Saints mascot name does real harm, reinforcing negative attitudes, beliefs, judgments, and stereotypes that lead to discriminatory acts aimed at individuals simply because of their weight or diabetes status.

Click here to send a letter to the team urging them to change the mascot’s name. It takes less than two minutes to send a letter with our easy-to-use action system!

Victory!

Massachusetts removed its language banning coverage of anti-obesity medications under Medicaid beginning on January 1, AND Alabama expanded coverage of anti-obesity medications under Medicaid!

Thank you, OAC Advocates!

OAC is only successful because people like you speak out for change! Stats and facts are important, but it’s patient stories that leave a lasting impact on decision-makers. We’d like to highlight and thank a few of our volunteers who recently advocated for change.

Jordan, Alecia, Dr. O’Toole, Laura, Timha, Yoislanda and Joe joined the OAC board and staff on Capitol Hill to support the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act!
Patty and Michele shared the patient perspective on obesity at the National Obesity Summit!
Kevin and Dr. Ho spoke on a webinar on stigma, access, and advocacy with OAC’s allies in California!
Ted, Michele and Dr. Daniel spoke at a legislative briefing on the economic impacts of obesity in Pennsylvania!
Liz and Michele spoke at the Obesity Roundtable on gender disparities in obesity care!

The OAC is advocating for or against a record 43 proposed legislative and regulatory changes in 36 states! Help us keep the momentum going.

Learn how obesity is impacting your state with our updated Obesity State Fact Sheets.
Check out OAC’s recent policy statements to learn more about our advocacy efforts in your state.
Take action in your state to expand access to care.
Take action in your state to stop weight bias.

Calling all supporters in North Carolina! If you are a state worker in North Carolina and will be impacted by the recent removal of health coverage for anti-obesity medications, we need to hear from you! Please share your story to help OAC advocate for reinstating coverage.

Advocating for Transformation

The OAC had an empowering kickoff to Obesity Care Week, with more than 60 advocates gathering for a Hill Day of Action on the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA). OAC advocates and allies met with more than 70 decision-makers in person on Capitol Hill and reached all 535 representatives through an OAC letter. We also had over 3,300 letters streaming in from OAC members across the country.

Our voices are being heard! Thanks to our Hill Day efforts, we secured 28 new cosponsors in the House and one in the Senate. TROA now has 93 cosponsors in the House and 21 in the Senate.

Click here to watch the video recap of our Hill Day, and click here to listen to OAC Chair Kristal Hartman’s podcast covering Obesity Care Week.

Shifting the Narrative

OAC has created several new position statements to help educate the public and decision-makers about our policy priorities. Learn more about the 5 Principles of Obesity, the Obesity Bill of Rights, and the Accessibility of Medical Diagnostic Equipment.

Making Connections

OAC met with leaders from the Veterans Administration (VA) on best practices for providing obesity care, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on coding and quality measures, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on intensive behavioral therapy coverage under Medicare Part B and AOM coverage under Medicare Part D, and the Congressional Budget Office to share survey data on barriers to obesity care. Each of these entities are critical players in our efforts to expand access to care.

Get Involved!

Report an issue about access to care or weight bias.
Learn how to get started with advocacy.
Learn how obesity is affecting your state.
Help us make the world a kinder, more inclusive place for people with obesity by supporting our mission.

Obesity Action Coalition
4511 North Himes Ave., Suite 250 | Tampa, Florida 33614
(800) 717-3117 | [email protected]

The Obesity Action Coalition is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating and empowering individuals affected by obesity through education, advocacy and support. We work to raise awareness of and eliminate weight bias and discrimination in healthcare, education, media and the workplace; fight to improve access to science-based treatment and care of obesity for those who choose to seek it; and provide support through education and community events.

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