Patients can take steps to protect and defend themselves when they face an insurance challenge. Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press Americans have lots of gripes about their health insurers, but many don’t realize there are ways to fight back—if you know how.

If you want to take one of the buzzy drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy to lose weight, the toughest part may be finding a way to pay for it. Insurers and employers, fearing the cost of medications that list for $900 or more a month, often put up hurdles when patients seek access to one of the drugs to slim down. Yet there are ways to get your health plan to pay for your prescription, if you qualify—and some alternatives if you don’t.

The Biden administration will move ahead with changes that could reduce federal payments to many private Medicare plans, but will phase them in more slowly than it had planned under an earlier proposal that drew huge pushback from the industry. The final payment policy for the private Medicare plans, known as Medicare Advantage, was released Friday and will take effect next year. The rollout of the changes, which will now take place over three years rather than one, means that the effect in...

Health insurers are tussling with the Biden administration over a proposal that could curtail federal payments for some private Medicare plans, a high-stakes issue for the industry because the business represents a growth engine. In a continuing effort that included a Super Bowl ad, insurers and their allies argue that the administration plans a payment cut next year for the popular health plans, which are known as Medicare Advantage. The tagline for the commercial, from the industry-backed...