If you’re on Medicare and your doctor mentioned Wegovy or Zepbound and you walked out because the price stopped you cold, the number just changed. As of July 1, 2026, the copay for eligible Medicare Part D enrollees is $50 a month.
That’s not a typo.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calls it the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, an 18-month demonstration running through December 31, 2027. It covers Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy in both injection and pill form, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound KwikPen weekly injection, and Eli Lilly’s Foundayo daily pill. All three treat obesity. All three normally run about $350 a month out of pocket for Medicare beneficiaries whose plans covered nothing, per CBS News reporting on the launch. Retail without insurance is closer to $1,000 a month.
The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 3.8 million Medicare beneficiaries qualify. To hit the eligibility floor, you need a BMI of 35 or higher on its own, or a BMI of 30 with heart failure, uncontrolled hypertension on two or more medications, or chronic kidney disease, or a BMI of 27 with prediabetes, a previous heart attack, a previous stroke, or symptomatic peripheral artery disease. That is a broader net than most people expect.
You don’t enroll yourself. Your prescriber submits a prior authorization request through your Part D plan, which routes to the bridge program for a 72-hour decision.
Here’s the catch. Two, actually.
First, the $50 copay does not count toward your Part D deductible. It also does not count toward the $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap that stops your other drug spending once you hit it. Translation: if you also fill statins, blood pressure meds, or anything else through Part D, that spending is a separate meter. You’ll hit your normal cap on the normal timeline.
Second, this ends December 31, 2027. Congress could extend it. Congress could also not. The Bridge is a demonstration project, which is regulator-speak for “we’re testing this.”
Real money either way. Paying $50 instead of $350 saves you $3,600 a year. If you’d have gone without because you couldn’t stomach $350 a month, this is the difference between treatment and no treatment.
Do this month. Ask your primary care doctor whether you meet the BMI-plus-condition criteria. Bring your last A1C, your blood pressure log, and your problem list. If you qualify, ask the doctor to submit the prior authorization now, not at your annual visit. Then check which Part D plan you’re on. The Bridge only covers standalone prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage. If you’re in an MA plan without drug coverage, you can’t use it.
If you don’t meet the criteria yet, file this away. If your doctor moves you to a Bridge-eligible diagnosis in the next 18 months, the copay is there.
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