GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk's Ozempic (NVO) offer hope for America's obesity epidemic. However, a recent New York Times opinion piece outlined the potential for steep taxpayer costs if Congress does not act to control the drug's pricing.  Jonathan Gruber, MIT Department of Economics Chairman and one of the authors of the Times op-ed, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss how the obesity drugs could present a budgetary crisis and their potential impact on government funding for research and innovation. Gruber outlines his estimate for the cost of government coverage of Ozempic: "We estimate that at the current cost if all obese people in America were made eligible for this drug at $15,000 that would be a net cost to the US government of $800 billion a year. That's a huge amount of money. That's the cost of our medicare program. Now, our estimate could be off by $100 billion here, a $100 billion there. It's still a big number no matter what and so we suggest that the federal government needs to aggressively consider how to reset the price of the drug more in line with the value it adds to society. " For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live. Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino

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