We stay in a world the place $1 billion of prescription medicines are left on the pharmacy counter every year, actually because sufferers can’t afford them. However there’s been excellent news about drug costs these days, particularly should you’re within the weight-loss meds everyone seems to be speaking about. Final week, medication-savings firm GoodRx introduced a cope with Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, that lets anybody with a prescription get the sort 2 diabetes and anti-obesity medication for $499 monthly. It’s about 60 p.c off the checklist value, which is at present over $1,300 monthly with out medical health insurance protection.
“Despite the surge in demand for these medications, GoodRx research shows that 19 million Americans lack any coverage for them,” says Divya Iyer, Senior Vice President at GoodRx. This new partnership—which cuts out middlemen lengthy blamed for driving up our pharmacy payments— “shows real momentum” towards higher choices for self-paying sufferers.
Sure, $499 continues to be too dear for many people. However trendwatchers say it’s an indication that change is coming. As a result of this GoodRx Ozempic deal ought to power different drug corporations “to keep prices in a similar range or lower,” says Aayyush Goyal, a pharmaceutical provide chain knowledgeable and founding father of MedsPartner. On high of that, he notes, it could stress insurance coverage corporations to broaden protection in addition to power pharmacy middlemen to rethink techniques that make treatment troublesome to afford.
Who can profit from the GoodRx Ozempic deal?
Since early 2025, self-paying sufferers have been in a position to get $499 Ozempic and Wegovy shipped to them from the producer’s NovoCare pharmacy. If mailorder is a problem for you, the GoodRx choice allows you to use an area pharmacy to fill your prescription for the GLP-1 medication. “GoodRx has a network of over 70,000 retail pharmacies nationwide, so this is a game changer in terms of meeting people where they are,” says Iyer.
It’s additionally a secure and efficient various to cheaper “compounded” variations of weight-loss medication bought on the Web. These choices—that are made by pharmacies utilizing a type of chemical recipe—have been briefly legalized throughout shortages of Ozempic, Wegovy and related medication. However they have been by no means regulated by the FDA. With the FDA declaring shortages formally over, the $499 deal ought to “result in a curb on generally counterfeit or ineffective medicines reaching sufferers,” says Goyal.
Don’t adverts say I can get Ozempic or Wegovy for $10?
“Would you rather pay $1,000 a month or $10 a month?” asks 31-pounds-slimmer tennis icon Serena Williams in new adverts for the telehealth firm Ro, which provides prescriptions for Ozempic, Wegovy and related medicines. Clearly, we’d quite pay $10. However right here’s the hitch: To qualify for that charge, you want a producer financial savings card and (the difficult half) excellent business insurance coverage.
Specialists say $10 a month (or no matter the price of your copay) is extra lifelike for individuals prescribed Ozempic for kind 2 diabetes. However these prescribed Wegovy for weight reduction usually aren’t eligible for this cut price charge—or something even remotely shut.
The well being advantages of Ozempic and Wegovy
What many individuals don’t understand is that Ozempic and Wegovy are literally similar. They’re the brand-name model of the generic treatment semaglutide. Ozempic is a model FDA-approved to deal with diabetes whereas Wegovy is a model FDA-approved to deal with weight problems. Equally, the diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight problems drug Zepbound are each the brand-name variations of the generic drug tirzepatide.
Semaglutide and tirzepatide each artificially enhance ranges of a hormone referred to as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) by about 900 p.c, dramatically enhancing blood-sugar management and shrinking urge for food. Tirzepatide additionally mimics one other blood-sugar hormone referred to as GIP, and research recommend this makes it simpler for weight reduction than semaglutide.
Individuals utilizing semaglutide with life-style adjustments have constantly misplaced 15 to 17 p.c of their physique weight in main research, per a 2022 report within the journal Diabetes, Weight problems and Metabolism. In contrast, “there was a Zepbound trial that led to a 22.5 percent loss of body weight and one on Mounjaro where they got a 26 percent loss,” notes Weill Cornell Drugs weight problems knowledgeable Louis Aronne, MD, whose analysis on the medication has appeared within the Journal of the American Medical Affiliation and the New England Journal of Drugs.
It’s not nearly weight, after all. Each semaglutide and tirzepatide are linked to a bunch of well being advantages starting from higher ldl cholesterol and lowered joint ache to reversal of a fatty liver and a decrease danger of main cardiovascular occasions reminiscent of coronary heart assault and stroke. And analysis like the celebrated SURMOUNT-1 research (co-authored by Dr. Aronne) discovered that as much as 99 p.c of prediabetics can forestall development to kind 2 diabetes with GLP-1 medication.
Weight Loss
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Is Ozempic or Wegovy best for you?
Each semaglutide and tirzepatide have related danger of unintended effects, which could be severe. That stated, GI issues like vomiting, diarrhea and constipation are the most typical, occurring about 50 p.c of the time. “Initially, if you limit fatty foods, it helps minimize side effects,” notes Dr. Aronne. “And for the vast majority of people, these symptoms subside.” Whether or not you select semaglutide or tirzepatide, “weight loss is unprecedented with these medicines.”
Worth is the principle motive you may need to think about Ozempic or Wegovy. Whereas you will get Mounjaro and Zepbound from the LillyDirect, the producer’s mail-order pharmacy for $499, the deal is just for decrease doses and ends should you skip a refill. You additionally get vials of the treatment which you could draw up in syringes your self. With Ozempic and Wegovy, you will get any dose, you get treatment in easy-to-use autoinjector pens and the value stays the identical if you must skip a refill.
Telehealth corporations like Noom have additionally begun providing “microdosing” packages of brand-name GLP-1 medicines. Decrease doses come at a cheaper price that will nonetheless assist enhance your efforts to eat higher and shed extra kilos.
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Decrease costs could also be on the horizon
When you don’t have room in your finances for any GLP-1 med proper now however nonetheless need to attempt them, consultants encourage you to hold in there. Whereas change received’t occur in a single day, Iyer believes GoodRx’s lower-cost Ozempic and Wegovy choices “point to a trend in new affordability pathways—whether that’s through cash programs, copay cards, manufacturer savings or eventually broader insurance coverage.”
The hope is that sooner or later within the not-so-distant future, anybody who wants these life-changing medicines may have entry to them. Within the meantime, you may take a look at the Novo Nordisk Affected person Help program, the place those that qualify could also be eligible to obtain sure medicines reminiscent of Ozempic at no cost. Others could also be eligible for as much as three months of Ozempic and pay as little as $25 a month if it’s coated by business insurance coverage.
Pure alternate options to GLP-1 meds:
Is Okra Actually ‘Nature’s Ozempic?’ A Physician Explains the TikTok Development for Weight Loss
This Sugar Substitute Mimics Ozempic for Weight Loss—Medical doctors Say It’s the Greatest One But
Nature’s Ozempic? 5 Herbs That Burn Fats and Assist You Lose Weight Naturally, Says One Physician
This content material is just not an alternative choice to skilled medical recommendation or prognosis. At all times seek the advice of your doctor earlier than pursuing any remedy plan.
