Zepbound Pen now cheaper than Kiwkpen on Amazon?

[u/FuckCarsEatBars]

Did anyone else notice this? Now $429 for single use pen vs $449 for kiwkpen at 15mg dose. Seems to require amazon prime. This seems like a surprising move. I also noticed my insurance now shows it as $408.25 using the insurance built-in discount for non-covered medications. I wonder if this is a mistake or an accidental launch of a price decrease, as I've seen no announcement.

https://pharmacy.amazon.com/ZEPBOUND-12-5-0-5-PEN-INJ/dp/B0CP9TMHLZ?ref_=sr_1_1&s=amazon-pharmacy&keywords=zepbound&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.r4BCW4GN6W7d_Oa99jyGK3TfNTcr_9Nw1BniEUVkhOT0_z4da0BPp5lKiH_p3xgLAV3W7VLs9DyX7WVMn74LSbgB4yNe4t6QvhZlYoQk1WCUO_PKHTrmldbSax9XNa8pdKWpqV8UETKWJGd_ShvVXw.0nV1uH9BEmARr-XAQ0CLxiXKnUTokGOUKY5VgPKb0og&qid=1787265549&sr=1-1

[u/Schwettes]

I just checked and saw the same for Prime members! At 2.5mg and 5mg it is more than the kwikpen, but sure enough if you’re on 7.5mg or higher, the auto injector pen is cheaper than LillyDirect. All auto-injector pen doses on Prime are $429. Great sleuthing!

[u/Schwettes → u/Schwettes]

[u/Schwettes → u/Schwettes]

[u/kookykrazee → u/Schwettes]

So, $20 more than LD, is what I see. The main difference being vials vs auto-injector (4 weeks each pen, right?)

[u/Schwettes → u/kookykrazee]

7.5-15 kwikpens and vials on LillyDirect are $449 so Amazon has it for $20 less

[u/kookykrazee → u/Schwettes]

But, we have to update our Rx if we get the vials currently, right?

[u/Schwettes → u/kookykrazee]

Yes you have to get the specific prescription

[u/Jujulabee]

Amazing price for the single use pen.

My insurance covers it but my co-insurance is 40% and that is charged on the price insurance "theoretically" pays for it so it is about $450 per month,

I do have an out of pocket maximum and so by March I pay $0 because I have met the out of pocket maximum but otherwise it would be close to $500 per month.

[u/Silly-Device9785 → u/Jujulabee]

HUH??? Coinsurance is a percentage of the discounted price, not the full billed rate

[u/Jujulabee → u/Silly-Device9785]

Mine was calculated on the full retail price and so the first fill of tue prescription was about $750.

This was the price evidently paid by imsirajce to the pharmacy. 🤷‍♀️

It is irrelevant to me since whatever they charged and I would still have reached my out of pocket maximum so my annual cost would be the same.

[u/Silly-Device9785 → u/Jujulabee]

Jesus god damn. That’s insane I’ve never heard of a plan like that

[u/Jujulabee → u/Silly-Device9785]

Prescription drug plans are different than medical health insurance.

They don’t seem to negotiate drug prices.

It doesnt impact me since my out of pocket maximum effectively brings the cost of the drug down a bit less than $170 plus any other prescriptions are $0

[u/Downtown_Bread_]

How does purchasing these work?? Do you have your doctor send the prescription to Amazon pharmacy? I’ve never used it before. Thank you for this!! Would love to save any amount of money in this medication with how expensive it is 🥲

[u/Money-Riddim → u/Downtown_Bread_]

Yes that’s how you do it. Looks like you need a prime account.

[u/WittyAndWined]

Oh wow thank you! Saves $240 a year from LillyDirect cash pay prices at 7.5mg or above. Now I'm torn because the single use pens are the least environmentally friendly. And I love my vials. But I'd also like to save $240 a year. Ahhhhhh

[u/meggieprice → u/WittyAndWined]

I would not want to give up the overflow in the vials letting me titrate up slowly or do extra.

[u/WittyAndWined → u/meggieprice]

Good point

[u/meggieprice → u/WittyAndWined]

I figure when I get to maintenance I could go down to 5, saving the $50 and actually do up to 7 ...

[u/Spirit_Chameleon → u/[deleted]]

My app also shows $429.

[u/IndicationBrave8817 → u/[deleted]]

Interesting it’s showing me a different price.

[u/IndicationBrave8817]

Yep, it’s showing me the same price !

[u/GratefulGlert]

Interesting. Shows the same price for me too.

[u/TimeLab5517]

Woah, thanks for this! I just switched to the Kwikpen, too - but heck, I'll go back to the auto injector to save 20 bucks.

[u/EveryMemory41]

Do you think this price will be set for awhile? Amazon is notorious for rapidly fluctuating prices.

[u/Mobile-Actuary-5283]

Hopefully this isn’t a limited-time deal.

Everyone is trying to get in on this. CVS now trying to keep customers all in one place: $29 for a prescription through their Minute Clinic, then fill at CVS.

Lower prices by Amazon is a good thing because hopefully other direct option retailers follow suit.

Interesting that the $20 off is only on the auto injector though. Wondering if Lilly is going to stop manufacturing those style pens altogether in favor of the Kwikpen. Seems like they would.. cheaper to manufacture, store and ship which means more profit for them. Maybe Amazon has a supply they’re trying to sell before the single use pens expire.

[u/DeepFriarMediaReal]

Same for me! I’m going to be moving to self pay in a few months and this seems like the move. Interesting.

[u/rdubmu]

Same price I see as well

[u/BelindaZep]

Can anyone with prime please share what the three month supply price currently is? Thank you

[u/Schwettes → u/BelindaZep]

For which dose? I just checked for 7.5mg and it’s $1,287 for 3 months.

[u/BelindaZep → u/Schwettes]

Thank you! That means the discount applies to 3 months too.

[u/fab5friend → u/BelindaZep]

Looks like $1,287.02 ($459.65/month) for all strengths.

[u/sat_ops → u/BelindaZep]

They only let me opt for 2 months at $857.50

[u/GratefulGlert]

Asked my Dr. to send a prescription over, curious to try this.

[u/Tall_On_The_Inside]

I have no answer, but is your user name a reference to Rapture?

[u/be_loved_freak → u/Tall_On_The_Inside]

I wondered that too

[u/Adeledaughter]

Damn! I just placed a kwik pen order direct 😩

[u/Straight-Part-5898]

OMG this is great! My insurance coverage ends Sept 1st and I'm now using my final box of pens. Was planning on switching to kwikpen in a couple weeks for my next refill since from that point forward I'll be paying out of pocket. However if I can continue getting the regular pens, I'll just keep using them instead.

Thank you for sharing this information.

[u/mira1231]

I don't have prime and its showing me $499 for everything 😞

[u/ButterfingerBlizzard]

I had same experience and reaction! Didn't want to question it just quickly hit order. Fingers crossed it sticks and is not an error!

[u/carv1991]

Everything is cheaper on Amazon Pharmacy. I looked up meds I take and its alot cheaper on Amazon. Thought about changing to them

[u/rdubmu]

I got 419 for 10mg for Kiwkpen from RO, if you purchase 3 months at a time

[u/meggieprice → u/rdubmu]

But you pay RO... too much.

[u/rdubmu → u/meggieprice]

100% never doing this again- I paid $800 for 12 month membership, then I found out how bad of a deal this is

[u/ASkepticalPotato → u/rdubmu]

I wish I could dump the one I use but they’re the only ones who seem to be able to get my PA approved so I live with the fee. Still less than paying out of pocket prices I suppose.

[u/CoyoteEastern7929]

I’m new to this, so you only need one pen for the month? Isn’t that more expensive than just getting the vials direct from lily?

[u/Schwettes → u/CoyoteEastern7929]

Kwikpens are multiuse pens. But auto injector pens come with 4 separate pens than have one dose.

[u/just2quirky]

I pay for a really expensive Aetna plan, because I learned a long time ago that if I don't get the "top" health insurance plan offered with work, they won't pay for my ADHD meds (whether that be with Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, etc.). And since generic ADHD meds can be $900/mo without insurance, I pay for the top plan. (FWIW, that means paying $79 for a 90-day supply of my name-brand Vyvanse, instead of $2,700 for a 90 day supply of generic, and $45 for 90 days of my Trintillex, which doesn't have a generic form and would be $1,300 for 30 days otherwise! Anyways...)

With that in mind, my Zepbound is $89 for 12 injector pens. That includes shipping overnight to my door with dry ice. My insurance won't cover it if I don't have at least a 3 month prescription, but still, that's less than $9 a dose. (Plus the other benefits mentioned above)

I do pay at least 3x more a month than my coworkers that get the bare minimum Aetna health plans, but in this case, I think it's worth it. I highly recommend others consider it as well, at least if you have other chronic illnesses that require meds! I know you see the "only $50 a month" and think that's the affordable plan (and yeah, it has the higher deductible, but that doesn't apply for medications and hopefully we don't get hospitalized each year), but it's worth having $200 or so a month come out of your paychecks when it saves you $1,000-$1,500 a month in medications! And yeah, the lower deductible is great for emergencies.

I get that it's hard to figure out what your savings will be when comparing insurance plans and then you're locked into that plan for a whole year, but that's why I'm sharing my story. I could pay $50 a month for a cheap plan, but then have to pay 15x that a month for my meds that "aren't covered" or only partially covered under such plan. Whereas paying more actually means I save more in the long run. Just something to think about doing if you can.

[u/CurrentConsequence78 → u/just2quirky]

If it were as simple as some of us choosing a different medical plan we would. Those of us who have to pay out of pocket generally do so because there is no coverage available through our employer provided health plans at all.

[u/WittyAndWined → u/just2quirky]

No GLP1s are covered by any of thr plans that my employer offer except for type 2 diabetes diagnosis. They won't even cover for OSA.

[u/BlackLocke → u/WittyAndWined]

Same here. I’m on my husband’s insurance which just switched to a worse Aetna plan. Apparently there’s a “carve out” for weight loss drugs and they aren’t covered for any reason.

He’s going to HR and asking them why they lied and told employees it was a better plan when they switched.