How much are people actually paying for GLP1s?

We've seen great strides in the price of GLP1 Receptor agonists coming down recently. Whether it's compounding pharmacies hired by hims and hers or huge pharmaceutical companies like Teva starting to produce generics, it's all but certain GLP1 RAs are going to be cheaper in the future.

But what are people paying now? Are people actually paying $1000/month for Ozempic routinely?

Luckily, we live in an age where people can share things freely on the internet. We've done some digging so you don't have to.

We skulked around a Reddit thread that had some great candid responses:

Some people are paying nothing

Participating in studies

It's exceedingly unlikely for the vast majority of people, but there are some people who are paying nothing because they are participating in studies.

I’m doing an ““independent research study”” I’ve spent $150 and have 6 months worth. Works like a charm too. 🥳 That price is not counting supplies

While some were participating in studies funded by large pharmaceutical companies like Novo Nordisk, others were participating in smaller studies – anything to get access to the drugs for cheaper.

Via Insurance

Some are finding ways to pay nothing by using insurnace

Of course, getting health insurance to cover GLP1 RAs can be difficult – they are determined not to cover it, though they may be forced to in the near future with the obvious benefits that they provide:

GLP1s increasingly not covered by insurance?

Insurance companies should love the benefits GLP1s, but instead they are removing it from coverage at alarming rates, often due to cost.

GLP1 GuideGLP1.Guide Staff

One user noted paying only $25/month with their insurance coverage. People also reported paying a low price one year only to see their prices rise after an insurance company stopped covering their medication.

Many are paying out of pocket, close to $1,000 per month

The usual quoted price of $1,000 per month is certainly still being paid – it looks like those who must pay out of pocket are generally finding providers that require little hassle but are more expensive.

Many are paying $100s (<$1,000) for compounded formulations

Compounding is the practice of creating a drug from other ingredients (or the same ingredients) manually, that can be performed by pharmacists:

Compounding - Wikipedia

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Compounding pharmacies are generally discouraged because it requires trusting the pharmacy creating the compounded medicine. It can be hard/impossible for the average person to verify the results of a compounding pharmacy yourself, so it's often necessary to depend on other experts to verify a compounded drug's ingredients.

What's more, the outputs of compounding pharmacies are necessarily not FDA approved. While this doesn't mean they are instantly dangerous, there is much less accountability.

That said, we've already seen that hims and hers have started to partner with compounding pharmacies to produce a more affordable subscription for GLP1

Even without waiting for hims and hers or other companies, people are finding that they can get access to compounding pharmacies and get formulations of GLP1 RAs for cheaper than the name brand drugs.

While this is a risky route, it seems that people are taking advantages (and news of dangerous formulations doesn't seem to be appearing as of yet).

We saw prices lke:

• $199
• $400
• $150 (Mexico)
• ~$91 ($183 for 2 months – evidently in Houston, Texas)

Some are paying <$100 with a prescription and health plans

One user's payments looked like this:

• $1200 in January
• $800 in February
• $70 from March to December

How? They had a Health Savings Account (HSA) and a deductible that when hit would convert to minimal copays.

Health insurance plans and things like HSAs can be hard to understand, but this is an incredibly use of them, given that you can get a prescription to a GLP1 RA like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound or others.

Evidently, certified nurse practitioners, Telehealth companies and other smaller medical providers are being used to get prescriptions to GLP1 RAs. While this may not be usable in the long term, it's a certainly a fascinating way to get access to cheaper treatments.

The usual quoted price of $1,000 per month is certainly still being paid – it looks like those who must pay out of pocket are generally finding providers that require little hassle but are more expensive.

A surprising find - increasing price per dose

Many providers seem to be employing a tactic of increasing price per dose – while the drug is hard to obtain this might work but hopefully this is reduced in the long term.

The verdict? Most people aren't paying $1,000

It certainly serves the large pharmaceutical company for most people to assume that GLP1 RAs cost around $1,000 a month (which they do, out of pocket), but it seems that most people are not actually paying this price for access.

While different strategies have different risks, it's great to see that people are finding ways to get access to what could be life saving medication for them however they can.