Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk run nine separate patient assistance, coupon, and direct-pay programs across their GLP-1 portfolios in 2026. Most patients do not know more than one or two of them exist. Most pharmacies will not volunteer the information unless asked by name. And most of the eligibility rules contradict each other in ways that look deliberately confusing because, in many cases, they are.
This is the consolidated database. Every active manufacturer rebate, savings card, and self-pay route from Lilly and Novo, as of April 2026 — what each program does, who qualifies, what it actually costs you, and how it stacks against the alternatives.
Eli Lilly: the active 2026 programs
Mounjaro Savings Card
Drug: Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for type 2 diabetes.
Eligibility: Commercial insurance only. Excludes Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, VA, and any state or federal program. Must have valid Mounjaro prescription with diabetes diagnosis.
Best-case cost: $25 per fill if your commercial plan covers Mounjaro.
Worst-case cost: Approximately $575 per fill if your commercial plan does not cover Mounjaro (savings card discounts up to ~$463 off the cash price).
Annual cap: Up to $1,950 in savings per calendar year, with limits on the number of fills.
How to access: Activate the card at the Lilly Mounjaro savings portal, present at any participating pharmacy.
Zepbound Savings Card
Drug: Zepbound (tirzepatide) for chronic weight management.
Eligibility: Commercial insurance only. Same federal-program exclusions as Mounjaro.
Best-case cost: $25 per fill if your commercial plan covers Zepbound (a minority of plans, but growing).
Worst-case cost: Approximately $650 per fill if commercial plan excludes Zepbound. (The discount available without coverage is smaller than for Mounjaro, reflecting Lilly's pricing strategy on the obesity indication.)
How to access: Lilly Zepbound savings portal.
LillyDirect Self-Pay Vials (Zepbound)
Drug: Zepbound (tirzepatide), single-dose vial format.
Eligibility: Anyone with a valid Zepbound prescription, no insurance required. Ships in all 50 states.
Pricing in 2026: $349 (2.5 mg), $499 (5 mg), $599 (7.5 mg), $649 (10 mg) for a 4-week supply.
Why it matters: This is the only direct-from-manufacturer cash program for brand-name tirzepatide. It is brand-name FDA-approved Zepbound at less than half the pen WAC. Vials must be drawn and self-injected (similar to insulin), which some patients find more intimidating than a pen but is functionally identical.
How to access: LillyDirect platform — telehealth visit to obtain prescription, then mail-order fulfillment.
Lilly Cares Foundation (patient assistance)
Drug: Mounjaro and Zepbound, free or substantially reduced.
Eligibility: Income-based, typically capped at 400% of federal poverty level. No prescription drug coverage. US resident.
Cost: Free for qualifying patients.
Process: Application required; documentation of income and insurance status; processing time typically 2-4 weeks.
Limitation: Refills require periodic re-application. Not a permanent solution but a critical bridge for low-income patients.
You cannot use a Lilly savings card and a third-party discount program (like GoodRx) on the same fill. The savings card is processed as a secondary payer through your insurance. The two routes are mutually exclusive — pick the one that yields the lower out-of-pocket on each individual fill.
Novo Nordisk: the active 2026 programs
NovoCare Savings Offer (Ozempic)
Drug: Ozempic (semaglutide) for type 2 diabetes.
Eligibility: Commercial insurance only. Federal program exclusions identical to Lilly programs.
Best-case cost: As low as $25 per 1, 2, or 3-month supply with covered commercial insurance.
Worst-case cost: Up to ~$150 off cash price for those without coverage but with commercial insurance.
Maximum annual savings: $150 per fill, with annual caps. Note that Novo's discount mechanics differ from Lilly's — typically smaller absolute discounts but similar copay floors for covered patients.
How to access: NovoCare savings portal.
WeGoTogether (Wegovy)
Drug: Wegovy (semaglutide) for chronic weight management.
Eligibility: Commercial insurance only.
Best-case cost: As low as $0 per 28-day supply with covered commercial insurance.
Worst-case cost: ~$650 per 28-day supply without coverage (approximately $200 off the cash price).
How to access: WeGoTogether portal — also includes coaching and adherence support resources.
NovoCare Direct (self-pay Wegovy)
Drug: Wegovy (semaglutide), single-dose vial format.
Eligibility: Anyone with valid Wegovy prescription. Self-pay only. No insurance billing.
Pricing in 2026: Approximately $499 per month for all dose tiers.
Why it matters: Novo's direct response to Lilly's LillyDirect program. Brand-name Wegovy at a flat $499 cash price beats any retail pharmacy cash quote substantially.
How to access: NovoCare Direct platform.
Saxenda Savings Card
Drug: Saxenda (liraglutide) for chronic weight management.
Eligibility: Commercial insurance only.
Best-case cost: $25 per month with coverage.
Note: Saxenda is the daily-injection predecessor to Wegovy and is largely being phased out as patients migrate to weekly semaglutide. The savings card remains active for patients still on Saxenda.
Novo Patient Assistance Program (PAP)
Drug: Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda for income-qualifying patients.
Eligibility: Income at or below 400% federal poverty level; uninsured or underinsured; US resident.
Cost: Free medication for qualifying patients.
Process: Application via NovoCare Patient Assistance portal; typical processing 3-6 weeks.
Can you stack programs together?
The short answer is no — at least not in the obvious ways patients hope for. Manufacturer savings cards are processed as secondary payers through your insurance, which means they require an active insurance claim to attach to. You cannot run a savings card and a GoodRx coupon on the same prescription. You cannot run a savings card if Medicare or Medicaid is your primary insurance.
What you can do:
- Use the savings card on the brand product, then switch to LillyDirect or NovoCare Direct on the next fill if your circumstances change (insurance lapses, coverage drops, etc.).
- Use patient assistance (Lilly Cares or Novo PAP) for the bulk supply, and keep a savings card for occasional bridge fills when assistance has gaps.
- Switch between brand products based on which one your plan covers — Wegovy may be on formulary while Zepbound is not, or vice versa, and the underlying drugs work via the same GLP-1 mechanism (with semaglutide vs tirzepatide producing different efficacy ranges).
Online forums sometimes describe creative "stacking" schemes — using a savings card on one fill while paying cash with a coupon on another, or layering manufacturer assistance on top of insurance. Most of these run afoul of the savings card terms and can result in clawbacks, account closures, or pharmacy fraud flags. The legitimate routes are the ones documented above.
Income-based assistance programs (the underused option)
Both Lilly Cares and the Novo PAP can provide brand-name GLP-1 medications free of charge to qualifying patients. Eligibility is generally based on:
- Household income at or below 400% of federal poverty level (approximately $60,240 for an individual or $124,800 for a family of four in 2026)
- No active prescription drug coverage that covers the requested medication
- US residency and a valid US prescription
The volume of patients who qualify for these programs but never apply is staggering. Both manufacturers process tens of thousands of applications per year, but the addressable population is in the hundreds of thousands. If you fit the income criteria, the application is straightforward — the main investment is collecting income documentation and waiting two to six weeks for processing.
Programs that ended in 2024-2025 (don't waste your time looking)
- The original Mounjaro $25-for-everyone bridge program from 2022-2023 ended. Current Mounjaro savings card requires commercial insurance.
- The Wegovy "anyone $0" launch period ended in early 2024. WeGoTogether now requires commercial insurance.
- FDA shortage status for tirzepatide was officially resolved in October 2024. Mass compounding under shortage rules is no longer the legal basis for compounded supply; personalized prescriptions remain the active pathway.
When manufacturer programs lose to alternatives
Manufacturer programs are excellent if you have commercial insurance that covers the medication. They are tolerable if you have commercial insurance that does not cover it but qualify for the bigger discount card. They are unavailable to Medicare and Medicaid patients except for income-based assistance.
For uninsured patients, Medicare-only patients, or patients whose commercial coverage refuses GLP-1s, the comparison looks like this:
| Route | Drug | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Lilly savings card (no coverage) | Brand Mounjaro | ~$575 |
| LillyDirect self-pay vials | Brand Zepbound | $349 – $649 |
| NovoCare Direct self-pay | Brand Wegovy | ~$499 |
| Compounded tirzepatide (telehealth) | Compounded | $179 – $399 |
| Compounded semaglutide (telehealth) | Compounded | $149 – $299 |
| Lilly Cares / Novo PAP (income-qualified) | Brand | $0 |
The honest summary: if you are income-qualifying for patient assistance, that is your best route by a wide margin. If not, the manufacturer self-pay programs (LillyDirect, NovoCare Direct) are the cheapest brand-name route in 2026. If you are open to compounded medication via a reputable telehealth provider, you can cut the cost roughly in half again.
For provider-by-provider pricing of compounded routes, see The Cheapest GLP-1 in 2026: We Compared 23 Telehealth Providers. For the brand-name LillyDirect route in detail, see The Zepbound Loophole 2026.
How to keep this database current
Manufacturer programs change. Eligibility caps shift. Annual maximum savings amounts get re-priced. New self-pay programs launch. We update this article monthly with verification dates and program changes. Bookmark it, and check back any time your insurance status changes or you receive a price quote that does not match the table above. The single best protection against overpaying for a GLP-1 in 2026 is knowing that programs exist and asking for them by name at the pharmacy counter.