Topline<\/p>\n
Amazon on Thursday announced its pharmacy would distribute popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs to eligible Medicare patients for $50 a month\u2014a sweeping shift that has slashed the cost of these medications by as much as 97% from their peak price, which had prevented access for millions of Americans.<\/p>\n
Amazon\u2019s pharmacy now offers steep discounts for weight-loss drugs, down from as much as $1,500. <\/p>\n
dpa\/picture alliance via Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n
Amazon Pharmacy will now dispense<\/a> Wegovy, Zepbound KwikPen and Foundayo\u2014Eli Lilly\u2019s new daily weight-loss pill\u2014to qualifying Medicare patients for $50 each month under the federal Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program, which runs through Dec. 31, 2027.<\/p>\n That marks a steep price reduction for the medications, which first cost between $1,200 and $1,500 a month.<\/p>\n The price reductions will save customers about $300 million, Amazon said.<\/p>\n Amazon said it would automate the entire enrollment process \u2014 including eligibility verification, prior authorization, and billing\u2014after a prescription is submitted electronically, and will offer same-day delivery across more than 3,100 U.S. cities without a Prime membership.<\/p>\n CVS Health on Wednesday announced<\/a> an overhaul to its GLP-1 offerings, cutting its digital weight-loss appointments to $29\u2014which the firm claimed to be the cheapest on the market\u2014and partnering with Eli Lilly to offer transparent pricing for Zepbound and Foundayo.<\/p>\n Since April, Walmart has announced<\/a> plans to expand GLP-1 access through its pharmacies and said its pharmacists would be able to support newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries.<\/p>\n big number<\/p>\n More than 66 million. That\u2019s how many people in the U.S. get their health coverage from Medicare, according<\/a> to the insurance program. About 72%<\/a> of adults age 20 and older are overweight or obese, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data as of August 2023.<\/p>\n key background<\/p>\n The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program, which launched July 1, covers weight-loss drug costs for patients with obesity. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services absorbs the financial risks for the first 18 months rather than passing it on to private insurers. Expanding access to weight-loss drugs, like Wegovy, Zepbound and Foundayo, comes as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk still charge between $199 and $499 a month for patients outside the Medicare program. Amazon has pushed itself into the GLP-1 market, announcing in April a GLP-1 management program that featured insured pricing starting at $25 a month.<\/p>\n further readingForbesOzempic Linked To Lower Risk Of Violence In New StudyBy Conor Murray<\/a>ForbesMonthly Ozempic Cost Slashed After Trump DealBy Ty Roush<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline Amazon on Thursday announced its pharmacy would distribute popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs to eligible Medicare patients for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1134011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4315],"tags":[324,93588,272286,105,13592,4326,370,16,15,19519,10891,34627],"class_list":["post-1134010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-amazon","tag-cvs","tag-foundayo","tag-health","tag-medicare","tag-medication","tag-ozempic","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-walmart","tag-wegovy","tag-zepbound"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117049043658517252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1134010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1134011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1134010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1134010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1134010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}