The collage shows the Zepbound injection pen, Eli Lilly's weight loss drug, and Wegovy boxes, made by Novo Nordisk.
Reuters
Prescription requests for popular weight-loss drugs in the United States more than doubled in 2024, even with limited insurance coverage and rising treatment costs, according to data released Thursday by drug provider GoodRx.
The numbers provide further evidence of the insatiable demand for a class of drugs called GLP-1 and GIP agonists, which mimic gut hormones to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar. That includes Novo NordiskWeight loss drug Wegovy Eli LillyObesity treatment Zepbound, which has a hefty list price of around $1,000 per month before insurance or savings cards.
Prescription fills for Wegovy and Zepbound have increased 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 US in November 2023. Wegovy received US approval in 2021.
“It's just a pretty astronomical increase in sales, and because of that, a lot of eyes are on it around affordability and accessibility,” Tori Marsh, director of research at GoodRx, said in an interview.
The data comes from GoodRx, a new weight loss drug tracking program, which studies packaging trends and spending patterns in the United States for popular weight loss medications.
The higher fill-up rates come even as only 9% of people with commercial insurance have unrestricted coverage for Zepbound, and 14% have unrestricted coverage for Wegovy, according to GoodRx. This refers to insurance coverage without any additional hurdles for patients to jump through, such as obtaining prior authorization or higher body mass index requirements.
Much higher rates of patients — about 60% to 70% — are on insurance plans with more restrictive drug coverage. But direct costs can add up, even if a patient has insurance coverage for weight loss treatment, Marsh said.
The average insured person who takes Zepbound can expect to pay more than $2,500 a year in co-payments for the drug, she said. GoodRx found that people spent an average of $231 out of pocket for a monthly prescription for Zepbound from January 2023 to October of this year.
“Insurance is no longer the temporary solution it used to be,” Marsh said.
Meanwhile, nearly 1 in 5 people with commercial insurance do not have coverage for at least one of the GLP-1 and GIP agonists prescribed for weight loss.
GoodRx found that Americans spent at least $200 million by paying full retail prices for weight-loss drugs instead of taking advantage of savings options, such as GoodRx coupons or assistance programs offered by Eli Lilly or Novo Nordisk. GoodRx said it calculated the overpayment figure based on the average price people would have paid for a drug at a GoodRx discount.
GoodRx said people without insurance can save an average of $250 a month, or $3,000 a year, by using its coupons for weight-loss medications.
GoodRx's data is consistent with other research suggesting spotty insurance for weight-loss drugs in the United States. For example, a survey published in October found that fewer than a fifth of the nation's largest employers include coverage for those treatments in their health insurance plans.
Federal Medicare also does not cover weight loss treatments unless they are approved and prescribed for another health condition. Research has shown that drug coverage can significantly raise costs for employers, 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 approved by the incoming Trump administration, the rule would dramatically expand access to treatments.
