GLP-1 coupons and copay cards: the $25 headline and the $100 cap

Novo 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.

Julian CaraulaniFounder, PriceTracker GLP-1Last checked Aug 27We track prices. Clinical facts on this site are quoted from the drug's label, the FDA or the published trial, with the source and the date beside each one. We do not write medical guidance and we do not tell anyone what to take.

6 min read · published Aug 27

The short version

1The card reduces your copay by up to $100 a month. It does not set your price to $25.
2You reach $25 only if your copay is about $125 or less.
3Government beneficiaries, including Medicare and Medicaid, are excluded.
4If it works for you it beats every cash price on this site, ours included.

The card takes $100 off your copay. It does not set your price to $25.

Novo calls it a savings offer, the pharmacy counter calls it a copay card, and almost everybody searching for it calls it an Ozempic or Wegovy coupon. Same thing, and the terms below are the manufacturer's own.

That is the whole article, and it is the sentence missing from almost every page about these programmes, including the ones the manufacturers point you at.

What the terms actually say

For Wegovy, verbatim:¹

Pay as little as $25, subject to a maximum savings of $100/month. Government beneficiaries excluded.
NovoCare

For Ozempic, the same structure:²

Pay as little as $25, subject to a maximum savings of $100/month. Eligibility and restrictions apply.
NovoCare Pharmacy

Both halves are true at once, and the second half does the work. Lilly’s equivalents for Mounjaro and Zepbound are structured the same way with different caps.

The arithmetic

Your copay	Card takes off	You pay
$75	$50	$25
$125	$100	$25
$200	$100	$100
$400	$100	$300

$125

Roughly the copay above which the card stops getting you to $25. Below it, the advertised number is real. Above it, you are getting $100 off and nothing more.

So "pay as little as $25" is an accurate statement about the best case, and the best case is a low copay. If your plan already had you paying $110, this is excellent. If it had you paying $400, this is a 25% discount on a bill that is still large.

Who cannot use it

"Government beneficiaries excluded" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. In practice that means anyone whose prescription drug coverage comes through a federal or state programme, which includes Medicare and Medicaid. Manufacturer copay cards generally cannot be combined with government coverage, and this is not a Novo quirk.

Worth knowing

If you are on Medicare, these cards are not your route and no amount of trying will make them one. The coverage question is a different one, and it is worth reading what your plan actually publishes rather than what a card advertises.

What the card is competing against

Here is the part we have an interest in, so we will be direct about it.

This site ranks cash-pay programs and earns a commission when someone buys through one. A manufacturer copay card is not one of those, we earn nothing from it, and if the card gets you to $25 a month it beats every price on our board by a wide margin. Take it.

The card is the wrong answer for you only in specific situations: if you are a government beneficiary and excluded, if you have no prescription coverage at all so there is no copay to reduce, or if your copay is high enough that $100 off still leaves you above the cash market.

That last one is the case worth checking, and it is checkable:

Before you assume anything

Two things worth doing in order, and neither costs anything:

Find out what your copay actually is for the specific drug and dose, from your plan rather than from a forum. Coverage for weight-management indications and diabetes indications routinely differs even when the molecule is identical.
Read what your insurer publishes. We keep the major insurers' own coverage statements with the quotes and dates, because plans change and prior authorisation rules are where most of this is decided.

Sources2

NovoCare, Wegovy savings offer terms read Aug 27“Pay as little as $25, subject to a maximum savings of $100/month. Government beneficiaries excluded. One month is defined as 1 box of 4 pens of Wegovy and 1 bottle of 30 tablets of Wegovy.” ↩
NovoCare Pharmacy, Ozempic savings and self-pay terms read Aug 27“Pay as little as $25, subject to a maximum savings of $100/month. Eligibility and restrictions apply. One month is defined as 1 box of 1 Ozempic pen and 1 bottle of 30 tablets of Ozempic.” ↩

Common questions

How much is the Wegovy copay card?

Novo Nordisk advertises paying as little as $25 a month, subject to a maximum saving of $100 a month. The card reduces your copay by up to $100, so you reach $25 only if your copay is around $125 or less. Above that you pay your copay minus $100.

Why am I not paying $25 with the savings card?

Because the saving is capped at $100 a month. If your copay is $400 the card brings it to $300, not to $25. The $25 figure describes the best case, which is a copay of about $125 or less.

Can I use a copay card with Medicare?

No. Novo's terms exclude government beneficiaries, which in practice covers Medicare and Medicaid. Manufacturer copay cards generally cannot be combined with government prescription coverage, and this is standard across the industry rather than specific to these drugs.

Is the copay card cheaper than paying cash?

Usually yes if it works for you. If the card brings you to $25 a month it is cheaper than every cash-pay program we track. It stops being the cheapest route if you are excluded, if you have no drug coverage so there is no copay to reduce, or if your copay minus $100 is still above the cash market.

Does the Ozempic copay card work the same way?

Yes. Novo publishes the same structure for Ozempic: pay as little as $25, subject to a maximum saving of $100 a month, with eligibility restrictions and government beneficiaries excluded.