Care
Visit or membership
Online programs often charge a monthly care fee. The medicine is often separate.
Paying for care
Build the whole cost before comparing prices
The number in a headline may cover the visit, the medicine, or only the first month. Put each part in its own box.
Separate charges
Four bills may hide inside one offer
Medicine
Cash or insurance
The amount can change by product, form, coverage, and whether an offer is new or ongoing.
Checks
Lab work
Ask whether tests are needed, who orders them, and whether the price includes them.
Time
Follow-up
Renewals, message access, and later visits may sit outside the opening price.
Prices on one date
Real figures, with the fine print attached
These prices were checked on September 26, 2026. Prices change often, so check again before you pay.
Semaglutide
$149–$499
Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, sold them directly to people paying cash for $149 to $499 a month, depending on the product and strength (the size of the dose).
The lowest shot prices were starting offers that ended after two months. For example, Ozempic’s $199 price covered the first two months only; after that it was $349 or $499 a month.
Tirzepatide
$299–$699
Lilly, the company that makes Zepbound, sold Zepbound directly to people paying cash for $299 to $699 a month, depending on strength.
For the higher strengths (bigger doses), the price was $449 a month only if each refill was bought on time.
List price
$1,000+
The list price is the maker’s official price before any discount or insurance. It is around one thousand dollars a month or more.
That figure is not what most people actually pay.
A savings card is a discount card from the maker for people with workplace or private insurance; people on Medicare, Medicaid, or military coverage cannot use one. Many cash offers and savings cards carried a December 31, 2026 end date. A January price may be different.
Coverage routes
Same medicine, different reason, different answer
Private coverage
A plan may cover a diabetes use and exclude a weight use. The plan may also ask your prescriber to send paperwork explaining why you need the medicine, and approve it before it pays. This is often called prior authorization.
Ask the plan about the exact brand, form, and reason for treatment.
Medicare
The Medicare drug benefit still excludes medicines when used only for weight loss, as of September 2026.
A temporary Medicare program, the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, sets the price of some weight-loss medicines at $50 a month from July 2026 through the end of 2027. Only three products are on it, including Wegovy and the Zepbound KwikPen. You must be 18 or older, and people with type 2 diabetes cannot use it because their medicine is covered the usual way. Ask your Medicare drug plan whether you qualify.
Ask before paying
Seven short questions expose the total
- Is the medicine included?
- Is this the first-month amount or the usual amount?
- Does a lower amount require prepaying?
- Are lab bills separate?
- What happens if insurance says no?
- What does cancellation change?
- Can the price rise with a different product or form?