Cost cards

The headline is not the whole bill.

Ask for a written total, what it covers, and what can change. Compare the cost of starting care with what you will pay each month afterward.

Ask.
Check.
Keep the answer.

Split the quote

Give each charge a place.

Care

First visit · follow-up · membership

Medicine

Product · supply · delivery

Other costs

Tests · supplies · cancellation

Ask which items are included, which are separate, and which you will pay again. Compare quotes with the same items in them.

Ask it plainly

What would I pay at the start and after any offer ends, including visits, medicine, and tests?

Read the terms

A starting price has an ending.

Self-pay means paying outside insurance. Ask how the price changes after any offer ends. Strength means how much of the medicine’s working ingredient a product contains.

Evidence card · Cash-price example

Check what happens after the offer.

These offer prices were checked September 26, 2026.

For semaglutide (Ozempic) injections, the maker priced each of the first two monthly supplies at $199. The offer covered products with strengths of 0.25 mg and 0.5 mg.

From the third monthly supply, the offer’s $349 price covered three strengths: 0.25 mg and 0.5 mg, along with 1 mg. A monthly supply of the 2 mg product was $499.

Here, mg means milligrams, the unit used to name the product’s strength. Ask the doctor and pharmacy which product is in your quote.

The offer was for new patients paying outside insurance who were adults living in the U.S. It was due to end December 31, 2026.

Open the source note

Check what happens after the offer. — source note

Insurance could not repay this cash payment. It did not count toward meeting the deductible. A deductible is the sum you must pay before the plan begins paying.

Government page describing the cash offer

Get a price quote for the particular product in the proposed plan. Keep any end date in the quote.

If you have insurance

Ask the plan about your health problem.

Prior approval means your insurance plan must agree to pay before you get the medicine. Ask about the exact medicine and the problem it is meant to treat.

Medicare may cover the medicine for certain purposes beyond weight loss. Examples include treatment of type 2 diabetes and lowering some heart risks. It does not cover every other use. Payment still depends on your plan’s list of covered medicines and its approval before treatment.

Ask it plainly

Will my plan pay for this medicine for my health problem, and what would I owe?

If you use Medicare

Check the temporary programme’s terms.

GLP-1, a signal made in the body, helps control both hunger and blood sugar. Medicines such as semaglutide and tirzepatide copy that signal and are called GLP-1 medicines.

Evidence card · Medicare

Medicare’s temporary GLP-1 Bridge programme has its own rules.

The GLP-1 Bridge lets Medicare drug-plan members who qualify pay $50 per month for certain weight-loss medicines.

July 1, 2026 is the programme’s first day; its last day is December 31, 2027.

Your drug plan sets a yearly limit on your payments, but the $50 monthly charge sits outside it. That charge adds nothing toward reaching the limit, so your total spending can exceed it.

Open the source note

Medicare’s temporary GLP-1 Bridge programme has its own rules. — source note

Who qualifies depends on their health and Medicare plan. People with type 2 diabetes use their regular Medicare medicine coverage, called Part D, instead of this programme. Some other health conditions also use Part D.

Ask your Medicare plan what you would pay; the Bridge’s price is not the price for regular Part D coverage.

Medicare’s patient guide to the Bridge

Ask it plainly

Does my health problem come under regular Medicare Part D medicine coverage or the temporary GLP-1 Bridge? What would I pay?

Ask both the doctor who would prescribe the medicine and your Medicare plan. An advertised price does not tell you whether you qualify.

Keep going

Check what the evidence really says