Maryland Matters: Board votes to cap how much state, local governments spend on Ozempic

With two drugs selected for upper payment limits, an expansion for the board’s authority to cover all Marylanders is on the horizon

Maryland Matters
May 18, 2026
Danielle Brown

Excerpt:

State officials determined that Ozempic, a popular diabetes treatment and weight-loss drug, is unaffordable for Marylanders and voted Monday to limit how much state and local governments will pay for it on state health plans.

Advocates say the Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board’s proposed “upper payment limit” on Ozempic, the name brand for semaglutide, could save state and local governments around $5.8 million a year on state health plans.

The board’s decision comes a month after it voted to place an upper payment limit on another Type 2 diabetes drug, Jardiance, that could save the state around $320,000 a year.

Read the full article at MarylandMatters.org.