The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug Zepbound on Dec. 27 to treat sleep apnea, a common but potentially serious sleep-related breathing disorder, making it the first medication for certain patients with the condition.

Over her three-decade career, weight management physician Dr. Sarah Ro has seen hundreds of patients. Many of them are on Medicaid and have become yo-yo dieters who, despite their best efforts at changing their eating habits and lifestyles,

Zepbound is not covered by Medicare or many other insurance plans as a treatment for weight loss. The injectable treatment costs about $1,000 a month without insurance.

Eli Lilly's obesity drug Zepbound can now be covered by government-backed Medicare insurance plans for use in sleep apnea, broadening access to the blockbuster weight-loss treatment. The Wednesday statement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services comes after Zepbound in December became the first drug approved in the U.

Eli Lilly's (NYSE:LLY) weight-loss drug Zepbound is now reportedly covered by Medicare for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in people with obesity. CNBC said Wednesday that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed that Medicare drug plans can now cover Zepbound,