Mounjaro's savings card has the most generous cap of any of them. $150 a month, against $100 for Zepbound and $100 for Novo's Ozempic and Wegovy cards. Same manufacturer as Zepbound, same molecule, better terms.
People search for this as the Mounjaro coupon; Lilly calls it a savings card. It is worth knowing because “the Lilly savings card” gets talked about as one thing and it is four things. The Zepbound half works differently.
What Mounjaro costs with insurance, by plan type
With a commercial plan that covers it, as little as $25 a fill; with a commercial plan that does not, from $499 a month; with Medicare, Medicaid or another government plan, whatever your plan charges, because the card is closed to you. Lilly's own pricing page puts it plainly:4
The list price1 of Mounjaro is $1,112.16 per fill, but the amount you pay will largely depend on your prescription drug insurance plan. Data on specific insurance plan pricing is not yet available.
Lilly, Mounjaro pricing information
So nobody can honestly quote one insured price. What can be stated is which program applies to you and what it caps:
| Your coverage | Lilly program | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial plan, Mounjaro on formulary | Savings card, covered terms1 | Your copay minus up to $150 a month, never below $25 |
| Commercial plan, Mounjaro not covered | Savings card, non-covered terms2 | As low as $499 for a 1-month fill |
| Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA, Medigap | None: excluded5 | Your plan's cost share |
| Commercial plan in an alternate funding program | None: excluded7 | Whatever that program decides |
A deductible changes the first months of the year. Until it is met, a plan that covers Mounjaro can still leave you paying much of the pharmacy's charge, which is why the card's $150 cap matters most in January.
If your plan covers Mounjaro
Lilly's terms:1
...insurance that covers Mounjaro (tirzepatide) ... to pay as little as $25 for a 1-month, 2-month, or 3-month prescription fill ... Card savings are subject to a maximum monthly savings of up to $150 per 1-month prescription, $300 per 2-month prescription, or $450 per 3-month prescription fill and a separate maximum annual savings of up to $1,950 per calendar year.
Lilly, Mounjaro savings
The structure is the same as every card in this category: a $25 headline, and a cap that decides whether you get near it. There is also a yearly ceiling of $1,950 in savings, and a fill limit that most summaries leave out:6
a separate maximum annual savings of up to $1,950 per calendar year. Card may be used for a maximum of up to 13 prescription fills per calendar year.
Lilly, Mounjaro savings card terms
Thirteen fills of $150 is exactly $1,950, so a patient filling every 28 days at a copay of $175 or more uses the whole year's savings and nothing is left over.
| Your copay | Card takes off | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| $100 | $75 | $25 |
| $175 | $150 | $25 |
| $300 | $150 | $150 |
| $500 | $150 | $350 |
The 3-month fill: $25 for 84 days
The $25 applies to a 1-, 2- or 3-month fill, and the cap scales with it: $150, $300 or $450. Lilly defines three months as 84 days and up to 12 pens. If your plan and pharmacy allow a 3-month fill and your 3-month copay is $475 or less, you pay $25 for the quarter rather than $25 a month. If they do not allow it, the card still works on a 1-month fill.
| Fill length | Card cap | You pay $25 while your copay is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month (28 days) | $150 | $175 or less |
| 2 months (56 days) | $300 | $325 or less |
| 3 months (84 days) | $450 | $475 or less |
Why the cap is worth comparing
The four major cards in this market, side by side, all quoted from the manufacturers:
| Card | Headline | Cap, 1-month fill |
|---|---|---|
| Mounjaro | as little as $25 | $150 |
| Zepbound | as little as $25 | $100 |
| Ozempic | as little as $25 | $100 |
| Wegovy | as little as $25 | $100 |
On a $250 copay, the Mounjaro card leaves you paying $100 and the Zepbound card leaves you paying $150, for the same molecule from the same company. The difference is which indication the box is labelled for.
Zepbound's cap, for the comparison, in Lilly's own words:3
Card savings are subject to a maximum monthly savings of up to $100 per 1-month prescription, $200 per 2-month prescription, or $300 per 3-month prescription fill and a separate maximum annual savings of up to $1,300 per calendar year.
Lilly, Zepbound
If your plan does not cover Mounjaro
A different program applies, and its numbers are unusually specific:2
...drug insurance that does not cover Mounjaro ... to pay as low as $499 for a 1-month prescription fill ... maximum monthly savings of up to $647 and a separate maximum annual savings of up to $8,411 per calendar year. Card may be used for a maximum of up to 13 prescription fills per calendar year.
Lilly
Two things people miss in that paragraph. There is an annual ceiling of $8,411 as well as a monthly one, so heavy use can exhaust the program before the year does. And the fill limit is 13, which is one more than a monthly prescription needs, not a generous allowance.
Who is excluded
Anyone on a government plan. Lilly's eligibility list is longer than the usual “Medicare and Medicaid”:5
You are not enrolled in any state, federal, or government funded healthcare program, including, without limitation, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, Medigap, DoD, VA, TRICARE®/CHAMPUS, or any state prescription drug assistance program;
Lilly, Mounjaro savings card eligibility
On Medicare, the cost is your Part D plan's cost share for Mounjaro. Lilly points Medicare patients to the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which spreads that cost into monthly bills but, in Lilly's words, does not reduce it:8
Your total cost for the year doesn't change ... What changes is when you pay it
Lilly, Mounjaro Medicare page
One more exclusion catches commercially insured people by surprise. Some employer plans route specialty drugs through an alternate funding program, and Lilly bars the card for them:7
If you have an insurance plan that is participating in an alternate funding program (“AFP”) that requires you to apply to the Mounjaro Single-Dose Pen Savings Card Program or otherwise pursue specialty drug prescription coverage through an alternate funding vendor as a condition of, requirement for, or prerequisite to coverage of Mounjaro, you are not eligible for and are prohibited from using the Mounjaro Single-Dose Pen Savings Card Program.
Lilly, Mounjaro savings card terms
If your plan sent you to an outside vendor before it would cover Mounjaro, ask whether that is an alternate funding program before you count on the $25.
What it is competing against
We rank cash-pay programs and earn commission on some of them. We earn nothing from Lilly's card, so plainly: if it gets you to $25, take it. Nothing on our board beats that.
It stops being the cheapest route if you are excluded, if your plan does not cover Mounjaro so you are on the $499 program, or if your copay minus $150 is still above the cash market:
One thing to check first
Whether your plan covers Mounjaro specifically. Formularies routinely treat the diabetes brand and the weight brand differently even though both are tirzepatide from Lilly, so the answer for one tells you nothing about the other. What the major insurers publish is the place to start.
