My father once said that “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” Decades later, those words still speak directly to one of the greatest public health challenges facing our country.
Across America, millions of families are living with obesity, a chronic disease that disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color. Yet many of those same Americans are being denied access to treatments that medical experts increasingly recognize as effective and life-changing.
That is not simply a health care issue. It is an issue of fairness and equal opportunity.
Recent decisions by states such as California to limit coverage for GLP-1 treatments for obesity underscore a growing national challenge: Effective care is increasingly available, but too often only for those who can afford it.
For years, we have said that where someone lives or how much money they earn should not determine their opportunity to live a healthy life. But those principles mean little if effective obesity treatment remains available primarily to those with private insurance or the means to pay out of pocket.
The result is a health care system where access to treatment depends too heavily on income.
Obesity is closely linked to many of the chronic illnesses that continue to burden American families, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and hypertension. These illnesses shorten lives, strain families and drive up health care costs.
Recent advances in obesity treatment have given many Americans hope for the first time in years. These treatments are helping people improve their health and better manage a chronic disease. For many patients, this is not about appearance. It is about access to medically necessary care.
Parents are finding the energy to keep up with their children. Workers are improving their health and their ability to provide for their families. Patients who have spent years cycling through ineffective treatments are finally seeing progress.
But hope means little if access is reserved only for those who can afford it.
When Medicaid does not cover obesity treatment, many low-income patients are forced to wait until their health worsens. Delaying care does not save money. It simply shifts costs to emergency rooms, hospital stays, disability and preventable suffering.
Policymakers should recognize obesity treatment as health care, not a luxury.
This is especially important in communities that continue to face higher rates of obesity and chronic disease. We cannot reduce health disparities while denying access to one of the most promising tools available to address them.
Unfortunately, stigma still shapes too much of our conversation about obesity. Too often, people living with obesity are met with judgment rather than compassion. We moralize the disease rather than treating it with the seriousness we would extend to other chronic conditions.
We would never tell someone with cancer to simply try harder. Obesity deserves the same seriousness, respect and access to treatment as any other chronic disease.
Health care should not be reserved for those with the right ZIP code, insurance plan or income level. Medicaid exists because access to care should not depend on wealth. Excluding obesity treatment undermines that mission.
The question before policymakers is simple: Who deserves access to modern medicine?
We cannot build a healthier nation while leaving behind the communities already burdened by the greatest health inequities. Expanding access to obesity treatment through Medicaid will not solve every challenge in our health care system. But it would represent a meaningful step toward ensuring that advances in modern medicine are available to all Americans, not just those who can afford them.
And ultimately, the measure of our society is not whether the fortunate can access lifesaving care. It is whether we are willing to extend that care to those who need it most.
Martin Luther King III is a global humanitarian and activist and the eldest son of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.