Zepbound savings card terms confirmed at $25 with tighter 2026 caps than 2025

Eli Lilly's 2026 Zepbound Savings Card still gets commercially insured patients whose plan covers Zepbound down to $25 per fill, but the card now caps its payment at $100 for a one-month fill, $200 for two months, and $300 for three months, with a $1,300 calendar-year limit across up to 13 fills. That is down from a $150 monthly cap and a $1,950 annual cap in 2025. The card is set to expire December 31, 2026.^[1][2]

The change mainly affects patients whose insurance copay runs higher than $125 a month. If a plan's copay is $125 or less, the $100-per-month cap still gets the price to $25. But someone with a $500 copay would now pay $400 out of pocket instead of $25, because the card no longer covers enough of the difference.^[1]

For commercially insured patients whose plan does not cover Zepbound at all, the card price actually dropped for 2026: $499 for a one-month fill of the single-dose pen, or $299 for the 2.5 mg KwikPen, down from $650 under the 2025 card.^[1][2] Separately, Lilly's LillyDirect self-pay program charges $299 for the 2.5 mg dose, $399 for 5 mg, and $449 for doses from 7.5 mg to 15 mg, as long as the patient refills within 45 days of the prior delivery. Without that timely refill, the price rises to $499 for 7.5 mg or $699 for 10 mg to 15 mg.^[1][2]

Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA, and DoD beneficiaries remain excluded from the savings card entirely, a policy tied to federal anti-kickback rules that bar manufacturer coupons on government health programs.^[1][2] Medicare enrollees do have a separate option: the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, which caps the Zepbound KwikPen at $50 a month with prior authorization, running from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027. Medicaid patients are not covered by the Bridge and are left with LillyDirect self-pay as their remaining brand-name option.^[1]

Why it matters for patients

For patients whose plan already covers Zepbound with a low copay, the 2026 changes are mostly invisible — the $25 price still applies as long as the copay stays under the new $100 monthly cap. But patients with higher copays, or those whose insurance doesn't cover Zepbound at all, will see the caps and pricing shift directly affect their bill. The not-covered cash price actually fell this year, from $650 to $499 for the pen or $299 for the KwikPen, which narrows the gap with LillyDirect self-pay pricing.^[1]

One pricing source flagged that earlier versions of its own coverage contained incorrect figures — including a wrongly reported price increase to $650, a nonexistent $469 per-fill cap, and other errors — which it has since corrected using Lilly's published 2026 terms.^[1] That underscores the value of confirming current terms directly with the pharmacy or Lilly's own program pages before assuming a price, since formularies and card terms can change and errors can circulate.

Patients using the card cannot stack it with GoodRx or other discount coupons, though leftover costs can still be paid with FSA or HSA funds.^[1]

What happens next

The 2026 card terms run through December 31, 2026, after which Lilly is expected to publish new terms for 2027, as it has in prior years.^[1] The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program, covering the KwikPen at $50 a month with prior authorization, is scheduled to run from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027.^[1] Patients are advised by pricing trackers to verify their price with a pharmacy test claim before each fill, since card numbers, prior authorizations, and insurance plan changes can all affect what shows up at the counter.^[1]