A combination image shows an injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, and boxes of Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk.
Reuters
Prescription fills for blockbuster weight loss drugs in the U.S. more than doubled in 2024, even with limited insurance coverage and high out-of-pocket costs for the treatments, according to data released Thursday by drug savings company GoodRx.
The figures offer more evidence of the insatiable demand for a buzzy class of medications called GLP-1 and GIP agonists, which mimic gut hormones to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar. That includes Novo Nordisk‘s weight loss drug Wegovy and Eli Lilly‘s obesity treatment Zepbound, which have hefty list prices of roughly $1,000 per month before insurance or savings cards.
Prescription fills for Wegovy and Zepbound increased by more than 100% and 300%, respectively, since the start of 2024. Zepbound’s jump reflects its first year on the market, as it was approved in the U.S. in November 2023. Wegovy won U.S. approval in 2021.
“It’s just a pretty astronomical increase in sales, and because of that, a lot of eyes are on them around their affordability and accessibility,” GoodRx director of research Tori Marsh said in an interview.
The data comes from GoodRx’s new Weight Loss Medications Tracker, which examines fill trends and spending patterns in the U.S. for popular weight loss medications.
The high fill rates come even as just 9% of people with commercial insurance have unrestricted coverage of Zepbound, and 14% have unrestricted coverage of Wegovy, according to GoodRx. That refers to insurance coverage without any additional hoops for patients to jump through, such as prior authorization or higher BMI requirements.
Far higher rates of patients — around 60% to 70% — are under insurance plans with more restrictive coverage of the drugs. But Marsh said out-of-pocket costs can add up, even if a patient has insurance coverage for a weight loss treatment.
The average insured person taking Zepbound can expect to pay over $2,500 a year in copays for the drug, she said. GoodRx found that people spent $231 on average out of pocket for a monthly prescription of Zepbound from January 2023 to October this year.
“Insurance is just not the stopgap that it used to be,” Marsh said.
Meanwhile, nearly 1 in 5 people with commercial insurance have no coverage of at least one branded GLP-1 and GIP agonist prescribed for weight loss.
GoodRx found that Americans have overspent by at least $200 million by paying the full retail prices for weight loss medications instead of leveraging savings options, such as GoodRx’s coupons or assistance programs offered by Eli Lilly or Novo Nordisk. GoodRx said it calculated the overpayment number based on the average price people could have paid for a drug with a GoodRx discount.
GoodRx said people without insurance can save an average of $250 monthly, or $3,000 annually, using its coupons for weight loss drugs.
GoodRx’s data is consistent with other research indicating spotty insurance for weight loss drugs in the U.S. For example, a survey published in October found that less than a fifth of large employers in the country include coverage of those treatments in their health insurance plans.
The federal Medicare plan also doesn’t cover weight loss treatments unless they are approved and prescribed for another health condition. Research has shown that covering the drugs could significantly raise costs for employers and state and federal governments.
But the Biden administration in November proposed a rule that would allow Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs for patients with obesity. If greenlit by the incoming Trump administration, the rule would significantly expand access to the treatments.
