LifeMD Review: Price, Pros & Cons

LifeMD's weight program is built around brand-name GLP-1s, mainly Wegovy and Zepbound, and you pay for it in two parts. One is LifeMD's monthly program and provider fee. The other is the medication, which is billed separately and depends on your insurance.

The program fee is $39 for the first month and $149 a month after that, according to the pricing note at the foot of LifeMD's weight-management page. The same page also advertises the program fee as starting at $75 a month, and as low as $29 a month, without explaining the difference. Confirm the fee you'll be charged from month two at checkout.

Without insurance, self-pay pricing applies to the drug. The Wegovy pill starts at $149 a month for new patients, so the pill plus the standard program fee comes to about $298 a month. The Wegovy pen and Zepbound vials and pens are priced higher. With insurance, LifeMD says its average copay for approved, covered patients is $0 to $25, on top of the program fee.

The fee covers your online visit, the provider's review, coaching from a weight-loss team, ongoing check-ins and lab work if you haven't had the required tests in the past 12 months. A provider may order a blood test before deciding to prescribe.

LifeMD's care team runs a benefits check with your insurer to see whether your GLP-1 is covered and what the copay would be. If it isn't, the team can offer discount coupons or other options. The prescription usually goes to your local pharmacy, and LifeMD can arrange mail delivery if that pharmacy doesn't have the drug. In some cases a provider may prescribe a compounded medication from a state-licensed compounding pharmacy instead.

There's also a pill-only option called Triple Therapy, which combines metformin, bupropion and topiramate, for people who don't qualify for a GLP-1. LifeMD is a publicly traded company and says its medical group is licensed in all 50 states.

LifeMD doesn't bill insurance for its own fee. And anyone with government coverage, including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE or a Medicare supplement plan, whether as primary or secondary coverage, isn't eligible for its GLP-1 programs at all.

If your insurer turns down the medication, you can pay for it yourself or cancel. Program fees you've already paid aren't refunded in that case.

The program renews automatically each billing period until you cancel. You can cancel or pause anytime from the Billing & Card page of the patient portal, or by email. Service continues to the end of the period you've paid for, with no prorated refund. Prescription medications can't be returned.

LifeMD advertises a money-back guarantee: if you stay in its program for a year and don't lose at least 10% of your body weight, you may be eligible for a refund. Terms apply, and LifeMD doesn't spell them out on its weight-management page, so ask for the full conditions in writing before you count on it.