There is a lot of buzz around the new diabetes medication, Mounjaro. This medication is a twin incretin medication that promotes the secretion of the hormone GIP and GLP1. These incretin hormones promote insulin release only when the blood sugar is high and suppress appetite. They target diabetes without causing low blood sugar and promote healthful diet change.
Mounjaro has shown great promise as far as lowering blood sugar and for weight loss. Thus, this medication is high in demand for people with diabetes, who desire weight loss and for the many people who fall into both of those categories. Their are 37 million people in the United States living with diabetes. One-third of Americans have prediabetes. One-third of American are obese. The number of people who can benefit from this medication in the United States alone is vast, not to mention the diabetes and obesity crisis that has spread throughout the entire world.
Given the massive need for this type of therapy, the interest in this new, powerful medication is huge. Many people are asking what is the Mounjaro price?
Mounjaro price is an important topic of conversation, because these types of medications have been too expensive for many patients in the past. Unfortunately the current cash price for Mounjaro does not decrease the obstacle of access for many people who would benefit from its blood sugar lowering and weight loss benefits.
The cash price for Mounjaro is approximately $1200 per month. Since the medication is so new, it will take some time for many insurers to cover it for diabetes. Right now, Mounjaro is only FDA approved for type two diabetes. The drug is under evaluation for FDA approval for weight loss. The clinical trial data is strong for weight loss with Mounjaro so this may help FDA approval move faster.
It is much easier to get medications like Mounjaro covered for diabetes by health insurance but it often requires a lot of calls and paperwork by the physician and their staff even for diabetes. Most insurance companies require prior authorization forms where a doctor must submit elements of a patient’s history, their hemoglobin A1c, their diagnosis codes and answer several questions about the patient and other treatments tried and failed before they will consider covering these medications for diabetes.
Most health insurance plans in the United States do not cover these types of medications for prediabetes and obesity without an additional diagnosis of type two diabetes. Using these types of medications for weight loss and prediabetes can prevent progression to diabetes and prevent downstream complications of diabetes. Unfortunately the out of pocket cost of these medications is far too high for most people to afford them without insurance coverage.
Right now the pharmaceutical company that makes Mounjaro is providing a copay assistance program to help with the cost of the medication for patients who have commercial insurance that does not cover the medication. Some pharmacies have difficulty processing these copay assistance codes so it is important that doctors prescribe the medication through pharmacies that are experienced with the medication. Pharmaceutical company representatives can be helpful in ensuring patients get these medications in the most cost effective way.