Millions of Americans would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic covered by Medicare and Medicaid under a rule the Biden administration has proposed.

Medicare has been barred from offering the drugs under a decades-old law that prohibits the government-backed insurance program from covering weight-loss products. The rule proposed by the Biden administration, however, would recognize obesity as a disease that can be treated with the help of the drugs.

The Biden administration Tuesday announced plans to provide coverage for a class of costly anti-obesity medications including Wegovy and Zepbound for those enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare, the federal health program for adults 65 and older ...