What it costs
Prices, coupons, insurance and the arithmetic of paying cash, checked against the seller's own page.
What it costsThe Zepbound savings card: two programs, not oneLilly runs two different Zepbound savings programs and which one you get depends on whether your insurance covers Zepbound at all. If it does, the card can bring you to as little as $25 a month, capped at $100 of savings for a one-month fill. If your plan does not cover it, you are on a different program that puts a one-month fill at $499. Separately, Lilly sells the KwikPen and vial direct at $299 to $699 by dose, and government beneficiaries are excluded from the card entirely.What it costsThe Mounjaro savings card, and why its cap beats Zepbound'sLilly's Mounjaro card can bring a covered patient to as little as $25, and its savings cap is $150 a month, which is higher than Zepbound's $100 and higher than Novo's $100 on Ozempic and Wegovy. If your plan does not cover Mounjaro, a separate program puts a one-month fill at as low as $499, with a stated annual maximum saving of $8,411 across up to 13 fills a year. Government beneficiaries are excluded from both.What it costsGLP-1s without insurance: what each route actually costsWithout insurance you have three real routes and they are far apart. Buying direct from the manufacturer is the branded one: Novo publishes $349 a month for the Wegovy pen and from $149 for the tablet, Lilly $299 to $699 for Zepbound by dose. Compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide from a telehealth program is a fraction of that but is not FDA-approved. And the savings cards you will be pointed at mostly require commercial insurance, so if you have none they are not available to you at all.What it costsDoes Medicare cover GLP-1s? The Bridge, and what it does not count towardFor diabetes, yes: Medicare Part D plans can cover Ozempic and Mounjaro when they are treating type 2 diabetes. For weight loss the answer used to be a flat no, and since 1 July 2026 there is a temporary federal programme instead. The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge gives eligible Part D beneficiaries all doses of the Wegovy pen and pill for $50 a month until 31 December 2027, and covers some doses of other GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. Two things almost nobody mentions: it runs outside Part D, and the $50 does not count toward your deductible or out-of-pocket total.What it costsThe Wegovy coupon: what $25 turns into at the counterNovo's Wegovy savings offer advertises as little as $25 a month, and caps the saving at $100. That cap is what decides your number: a $110 copay becomes $25, a $400 copay becomes $300. Government beneficiaries are excluded, so on Medicare or Medicaid the card is closed to you and the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge is the route instead. Without any insurance the card does not apply either, and Novo's own cash price is $349 a month for the pen or from $149 for the tablet.What it costsThe Ozempic coupon, and why your copay decides everythingNovo's Ozempic savings offer advertises as little as $25 a month with a maximum saving of $100, so the card takes $100 off your copay rather than setting your price to $25. Because Ozempic is the diabetes drug, Part D and commercial plans cover it far more readily than the weight-loss brands, which means the card is often working against an already-modest copay and genuinely reaches $25. Government beneficiaries are excluded. Paying cash, Novo publishes $349 a month up to 1 mg and $499 at 2 mg.What it costsDoes Medicaid cover GLP-1s? It depends which state, and on whyFor type 2 diabetes, effectively yes everywhere: state Medicaid programmes must cover FDA-approved drugs for medically accepted indications, so Ozempic and Mounjaro are covered for blood sugar, almost always behind prior authorisation. For obesity it is a patchwork. As of January 2026 only 13 state Medicaid programmes covered GLP-1s for weight under fee-for-service. That is changing: CMS's BALANCE model opened to state Medicaid programmes on 1 May 2026 with no out-of-pocket cost for beneficiaries, but joining is voluntary for each state.What it costsGoodRx for GLP-1s: what the discount actually isGoodRx works best on generics, and every GLP-1 is a brand-name drug with no generic. Its own pages advertise Ozempic from $149 against an average retail price of $1,212.34, and Wegovy from $149 against $1,642.88. That $149 is the manufacturer's own published tablet price rather than a pharmacy discount GoodRx negotiated, so the headline saving and Novo's own offer are the same thing. GoodRx also cannot be combined with insurance or with a manufacturer copay card, though unlike those cards it is open to people on Medicare.What it costsThe Rybelsus coupon, and the cash price that does not existNovo runs a savings card for Rybelsus on the same terms as its others: as little as $25 a month with the saving capped at $100, and government beneficiaries excluded. What makes Rybelsus different is the fallback. Novo's own self-pay pharmacy lists the Wegovy pill and the Ozempic pill and does not list Rybelsus, so there is no published cash price to fall back on when the card does not apply. If you are uninsured or on Medicare, that is the thing to know before you go looking.What it costsThe Wegovy pill, what it costs, and the price that moves on 31 AugustWegovy is now sold as a daily tablet as well as a weekly injection, and the tablet self-pays cheaper. Novo's published prices run $149 a month at 1.5 mg, $199 at 4 mg and $299 at 9 mg and 25 mg. The 4 mg figure is mid-change: Novo's savings page still shows $149 with an offer expiring 31 August 2026, while its own pharmacy page already lists $199. There are also three different semaglutide pills on the market now, which is the thing most pages about this have not caught up with.What it costsGLP-1 coupons and copay cards: the $25 headline and the $100 capNovo Nordisk advertises paying as little as $25 a month for Wegovy and Ozempic with its savings cards. The same terms attach a maximum saving of $100 a month, and that is the number that decides whether the card helps you. It reduces your copay by up to $100, so a $110 copay becomes $25 and a $400 copay becomes $300. Government beneficiaries, including anyone on Medicare or Medicaid, are excluded. If the card does work for you it beats every cash price we track, which is worth saying on a site that earns commission on the alternatives.