GLP-1 prescriptions among seniors rose 19% after Medicare Bridge launch, Truveta says

The share of U.S. adults 65 and older with a GLP-1 prescription rose 19 percent from June to July 2026, the largest month-to-month increase in seven years of data kept by Truveta, the health data company reported. The increase landed in the first month of Medicare's Bridge program, a pilot that began July 1 and makes some obesity drugs available to eligible beneficiaries for $50 a month ^[1][2].

Truveta's breakdown showed an 80 percent relative increase in prescriptions for tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound, and a 40.9 percent relative increase for semaglutide, sold as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus. Prescriptions for orforglipron, sold as Foundayo, were too few for the company to measure. Truveta cautioned that its data do not establish that the Bridge program caused the rise, but said the timing points to how quickly removing a financial barrier can change access to medication.

Medicare is barred by law from paying for weight loss drugs, so the administration built Bridge as a workaround, NPR reported ^[2]. Beneficiaries qualify if they meet conditions such as having obesity along with high blood pressure that is hard to control ^[2]. People with sleep apnea or Type 2 diabetes are not eligible, because Medicare Part D is already supposed to cover GLP-1 drugs for those conditions ^[2]. The program is scheduled to run through the end of 2027 ^[2].

Pharmacy chains gave the first public volume figures. CVS and Walgreens each told NPR they had filled around 100,000 Bridge prescriptions less than two months in, and CVS said it had filled more than 100,000 as of mid-August ^[2]. Walmart did not provide a number but said Bridge prescriptions had been processed at more than 5,000 Walmart and Sam's Club pharmacies and were growing week over week ^[2]. Walgreens stocked extra Wegovy, Zepbound and Foundayo ahead of the July launch, chief pharmacy officer Rick Gates said. "I think there's been a little bit more uptake than we even expected," he said ^[2]. About half of the Bridge patients Walgreens has served had never taken a GLP-1 before, Gates added ^[2].

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not give NPR figures for how many people are using the program ^[2]. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said in a video posted to X on July 29 that 250,000 beneficiaries had signed up, and it is not clear how many had prior authorizations approved, which is required to fill Bridge prescriptions ^[2]. Medicare had estimated roughly 4 million beneficiaries might qualify ^[2]. KFF estimates the 18-month program could cost between $1.3 billion and $10 billion depending on participation; Medicare Part D spending on prescription drugs in 2025 was $181 billion ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

For people 65 and older, Bridge changes the out-of-pocket math on drugs that can otherwise cost far more than $50 a month ^[1][2]. The first month of Truveta's data suggests a lower price moved prescriptions quickly among older adults, and Walgreens' experience suggests many of those patients are new to the category rather than switching from another source ^[2].

Several practical limits are built into the program. A prior authorization is required to fill a Bridge prescription, and how many of the people who signed up actually cleared that step has not been disclosed ^[2]. The program ends after 2027, and what coverage, if any, replaces it has not been reported ^[2]. People with sleep apnea or Type 2 diabetes are excluded from Bridge, though Part D is supposed to cover GLP-1 drugs for those conditions ^[2].

Staying on therapy is a separate question the prescribing data do not answer. Gates noted that nausea and diarrhea are among the early side effects that can lead patients to stop treatment, which he said pharmacists can help manage ^[2]. Whether the 19 percent increase reflects patients starting and continuing, or a one-month surge, has not been reported.

What happens next

The Bridge program is set to run through the end of 2027 ^[2]. CMS has not released its own enrollment totals, and the administration has not said what the program could cost ^[2]. No data on prior authorization approval rates, or on how many Bridge patients remain on treatment after the first months, have been published.

Jeremy Shane, a nonresident scholar at the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Institute, told NPR the early pharmacy numbers suggest demand was there once cost dropped, and that between 5 percent and 10 percent of eligible beneficiaries may have received a prescription in a short period ^[2]. He added that the larger question is whether treating obesity and related conditions earlier reduces other Medicare spending over time ^[2].