Cost Primer: Which Price Applies to You?

Why One Prescription Can Have Five Different Monthly Prices

Everyday Denver Scene

A local drug store quotes well over a thousand dollars, a friend pays twenty-five dollars, and a clinic ad pitches a low starter rate for the same drug.

Five different figures can describe the same approved medicine: an insured copay card, a government program copay, a maker’s cash price, a discount-card price, and a list price. The name GLP-1 groups certain diabetes and weight-loss medicines together, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide. It does not mean every peptide. On September 26, 2026, checked prices spanned a $25 eligible insured copay to about $1,390 with a retail discount card.

Drug maker copay cards advertise as little as $25 per month for eligible patients whose private plan covers the drug. The maker’s copay-card terms exclude Medicare and Medicaid members. Discount-card quotes checked in September 2026 ranged from about $860 to $1,390 for selected brand products, including some promotional credits. Prices varied by location and product. Compare your quote with the maker’s cash program.

Direct Manufacturer Cash Prices and the Federal Directory

Everyday Denver Scene

Your health plan denies weight-loss coverage, and a local clinic claims its cash club is the only cheap way to get brand medicine.

On February 5, 2026, the federal government launched TrumpRx.gov, a web directory that links cash-paying patients to drug maker self-pay programs. In the maker programs checked in September 2026, most advertised monthly cash prices were $149 to $499. Product, strength, and offer rules can raise the cost. Wegovy pen cash pricing checked in September 2026 offered new patients two starter fills at $199 each through December 31, 2026. Later monthly fills were $349, or $399 for Wegovy HD. For Wegovy pills, self-pay cash prices run from $149 per month at the starter dose to $299 per month at higher strengths.

For new adult US self-pay patients, the Ozempic pen offer is $199 for each of two fills at 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg through December 31, 2026. Once the two-fill offer ends, the monthly pen price is $499 for the 2 mg strength. For the 1 mg pen, the later monthly price is $349. Both the 0.5 mg strength and the 0.25 mg strength use that same $349 monthly rate. These are prices by prescribed strength, not instructions to choose or change a dose. Through LillyDirect, Zepbound single-dose vials and KwikPen options cost $299 per month at the 2.5 mg starter dose. For Zepbound, the checked monthly price was $399 at 5 mg and $449 at 7.5 mg to 15 mg. The $449 offer needs a first fill at that strength or a refill within 45 days of delivery. Without that offer, 7.5 mg cost $499; the $699 price applied to 10 mg, to 12.5 mg, and to 15 mg. Ask which price your next fill will use. Novo Nordisk also announced a wholesale list-price cut for Wegovy and Ozempic to $675 per month starting January 1, 2027. The January 1, 2027 change lowers the maker’s list price, a starting figure used by health plans before discounts. It does not change the cash prices patients pay through the maker’s programs.

Spotting Hidden Clinic Subscriptions and Lab Markups

Everyday Denver Scene

You see a clinic ad for a low first month, while the fine print requires a long club plan plus an expensive blood panel.

In the six online weight-service pages checked in September 2026, five sold monthly memberships. Medication was a separate cost at those five. Ask which visit, drug, or lab charges a quoted fee includes. In the September 2026 checks, selected single blood tests bought without insurance had regular cash prices of $29 to $59. Order fees may be extra. The checked cash prices for lab bundles ranged from $75 to $189 in September 2026. A bundle has several tests together; those two prices cover different test sets. Compare the test names and any order fee, then ask your clinician why each test is needed.