Hacker News Reader

Comment by Suppafly | Hacker News Reader

I really wish my insurance would cover GLP-1s, because I think reduction in fatty liver and other ancillary benefits, along with the weight loss, would be medically helpful for me.

View on HN

I was paying $1400 a month of my GLP-1 (on top of the $2400 monthly health insurance premium). I eventually just bought a batch from a reputable online compounding pharmacy for a very small fraction of that (about 12 months of meds at a time), and send one of the vials in for testing at a mass spectrometer for about $500.

I've been given a sheet of prices for self-pay in the U.S. and they range from $150 to $350 for the lower doses (the oral versions are $150, the injections $300 and $350). These are not online prices, just local pharmacy prices.

Would you mind sharing the online pharmacy and the testing facility you used?

I've been wary of using online pharmacies due to concerns with knowing what's legitimate and what's not, so maybe a recommendation would help.

If you don't want to share publicly, can you put you contact info in your profile and I'll reach out to you?

I thought they closed whatever loophole that let compounding pharmacies do GLP1s, but I suppose online there are ways around that.

Amazon Pharmacy sells name brand GLP-1s (Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, etc) for $250-400/month without insurance.

Yeah, Eli Lilly is selling Zepbound direct to consumer for roughly the same price too (with a prescription, obviously). People should generally avoid compounding pharmacies unless they have a specific need, many are not based in the US and not subject to the same regulatory standards as manufacturers (either generic or brand name).

Yep, check out lillydirect. Relative of mine barely missed the cutoff for insurance coverage (in terms of starting BMI) but lillydirect will sell you actual zepbound for something like $399/month. The cost is also reimbursable with an HSA if you have one.

You do need a prescription, but generally most physicians will write you one if you are overweight even if you don't meet the high bar for insurance coverage.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com