Hello Alpha Review: Price, Pros & Cons

Hello Alpha's $79 a month is a membership fee, not a drug price. Weight loss care needs the Alpha Plus+ plan, which costs $79 a month and includes four online visits a month, 24/7 messaging with your provider, progress tracking and free medication shipping. The $29 Basic plan doesn't cover weight loss.

The medication is billed separately. Hello Alpha prescribes brand-name drugs only, and it doesn't publish what they'll cost you. That depends on whether your insurance covers the drug, your copay, and the pharmacy that fills it. If you pay cash, you pay the pharmacy's or the drugmaker's cash price on top of the membership.

Membership is month to month with no minimum. You can cancel any time, but fees already paid aren't refunded.

Hello Alpha says it prescribes only FDA-approved medications. The GLP-1 list includes the Foundayo pill (orforglipron), the Wegovy pill and pen, the Ozempic pen, Zepbound vials and pens, and the Mounjaro pen. Zepbound vials are cash pay only, through the drugmaker's LillyDirect program. Providers can also prescribe older options such as metformin, Saxenda, Contrave and generic bupropion.

It doesn't prescribe controlled weight-loss drugs, so phentermine and Qsymia aren't available.

Hello Alpha doesn't bill insurance for its membership, but it will collect your insurance details during the visit and help you use your drug coverage. Some limits matter here:

• Medicare, Medicaid and other government plans can't be used for any prescription its providers write. You'd pay the cash price.
• It won't help with prior authorization for diabetes drugs such as Ozempic or Mounjaro used for weight loss unless you have type 2 diabetes.
• If your insurer denies a prior authorization, or you don't meet the requirements, the Plus+ fee isn't refunded.

HSA funds may cover the membership and HSA or FSA funds can generally cover prescriptions. You can download receipts from your account.

Hello Alpha is a women's health practice, though its providers also treat men for most conditions. Weight loss care is for adults 18 and older. Hello Alpha, Inc. runs the platform, and care comes from affiliated medical practices led by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Loni Belyea. You pay before your first consultation. If a provider decides telehealth isn't right for you, you're refunded; once a provider accepts the consultation, that payment is final. After that you're usually routed back to the same provider. A membership doesn't guarantee a prescription.

• Call your insurer first and ask whether it covers the drug you want and whether prior authorization is needed.
• If you're paying cash, price the medication separately and add $79 a month.
• Hello Alpha doesn't list the states it serves, so check yours at sign-up.