Apr 8, 2026
Kristi and Keith Turner were blindsided when Kristi's insurer told her it would no longer cover the cost of her Zepbound weight loss treatment. Kristi's Zepbound bills rose from $25 to around $500 a month. Her husband, meanwhile, continued to pay only $25 for the drug.
What changed? In one word: diagnosis.
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Kristi's insurance no longer covered Zepbound for obesity, according to Business Insider (1). But her husband Keith was diagnosed with diabetes, which their insurance covers.
Millions of Americans are in a similar boat—caught between massive price hikes and access to what could be transformative weight loss drugs.
Insurers are rolling back weight loss coverage
Two trends explain price hikes like the one Kristi experienced: rising demand and dropping coverage.
More Americans want weight loss drugs, often called GLP-1s. J.P. Morgan estimates patients on GLP-1 drugs grew from about 6 to 10 million from 2024 to 2025 (2). The bank forecasts 25 million Americans will take these drugs by 2030.
While Americans scramble for drugs amidst shortages—sometimes ordering drugs through "grey market" manufacturers in China (3)—insurers respond to rising claim costs by rolling back coverage.
Health insurance companies have been scaling back coverage for years. GoodRx, a company with a mission to make healthcare easy, tracks which weight loss drugs popular insurers cover (4).
Here are some notable highlights from 2024 through January 2026 from GoodRx's tracking:
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- Insurers refusing to cover Zepbound rose from about 18 to 56%.
- Insurers covering Wegovy without restrictions dropped from about 14 to 9%.
Americans affected can be counted in the millions. In 2026, 12 million Americans lost some form of Wegovy coverage by non-government insurers, per GoodRx.
Some insurers cover weight loss drugs, but require prior authorization, the process by which your doctor offers proof that a medication is medically necessary (5). The process is a legitimate way to restore coverage. But some patients find it more trouble than it's worth.
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Get your coverage back, maybe
When Kristi was notified she was no longer automatically covered for Zepbound, her insurer offered her a way forward: a six-month program that includes physical therapy and lab tests.
The program, and programs like it, often come with a major caveat. They might request dietary and other lifestyle changes users find difficult to implement. Healthcare provider knownwell says it's not unusual for programs to take three to six months (6) to complete. And even if Kristi completed the program, her insurer might decide not to cover her.
Kristi added up how long it would take and decided not to enroll in the program.
For some, weight loss drugs continue to break budgets. The good news: you can get drugs for cheaper than list price, in some cases.
Where to get cheaper weight loss drugs
Drug coupon websites like TrumpRX or GoodRX offer discounts on major weight loss drugs.
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TrumpRX is a federal program for discounts on popular drugs, including GLP-1s. U.S. residents who aren't enrolled in federal insurance programs may be eligible.
The program claims to lower the price of Zepbound (7) up to 72%. To redeem discounts, users are directed to direct-pay websites or offered coupons to print. Users show their coupon, sometimes called a discount card, to pharmacists at participating locations, like CVS Pharmacy. GoodRx also offers programs with similar prices.
That being said, prescriptions aren't guaranteed. You might not qualify for lower prices. Some of the best discounts, like the $150 for Wegovy, are limited to the lowest doses and intro offers. In this case, the price of Wegovy's lowest dose rises to $200 on August 1st, 2026.
As what some call 'the great uninsuring' continues to squeeze Americans, users like Kristi, who have seen life-changing results, must decide whether to foot the bills insurers won't cover.
Despite the price hike, Kristi continues to pay for Zepbound saying "financially, it stinks. But the medicine is life-changing for me" (1). She pays about $500 a month for the drug.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Business Insider (1) ; J.P. Morgan (2) ; NPR (3) ; GoodRx (4) ; Minnesota Department of Human Services (5) ; Knownwell (6) ; TrumpRX (7)
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Cole Tretheway has been covering money for four years. He started as an intern at The Motley Fool Money, covering best-of credit cards, savings accounts and financial products. He's since expanded into holistic personal finance, including the psychology of money.
