Access expanded to about 20 million eligible people, prior authorisation running smoothly, and roughly 80% of new patients choosing injectables.
On its second-quarter earnings call, Lilly's US president reported that the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge — live since 1 July 2026 — is expanding access to roughly 35% more Americans, covering about 20 million eligible beneficiaries, with a significant inflection in prescriptions for both Zepbound and the oral agent Foundayo.
Prior authorisation is reportedly working smoothly, which is not the norm in this category and is the part most likely to determine whether the programme is used at scale. About 80% of new patients are choosing injectables over the oral option.
If you are Medicare-eligible and currently paying cash for compounded tirzepatide, this is worth checking immediately. A flat $50 a month for an FDA-approved product is below every compounded route we track, and for tirzepatide the included product is the Zepbound KwikPen.
The programme runs through 31 December 2027 as currently structured. Eligibility is set by your specific Part D plan rather than by the headline, so verify with the plan rather than assuming.
Sources
- Lilly Q2 2026 earnings call remarks on the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, 5 August 2026
- Medicare Part D plan documentation
Dated 2026-08-05. If this item is out of date or wrong, tell us through contact and the change is logged in corrections.
Primary sources
Clinical, dosing and regulatory statements on this page rest on the documents below. Links go to the publisher, not to a summary of it. Prices are not sourced here — they carry a verification date instead, and the reason is set out in the source ledger.
- ZEPBOUND (tirzepatide) full prescribing information — DailyMed, US National Library of Medicine. Dose ladder, contraindications, warnings, storage.
- FDA’s concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss — US Food and Drug Administration. Compounded GLP-1 risks, API import alert, cold-chain complaints.
- FD&C Act provisions that apply to human drug compounding — US Food and Drug Administration. Why a compounded preparation is lawful without being FDA-approved.
- Tirzepatide once weekly for the treatment of obesity (SURMOUNT-1) — N Engl J Med 2022;387:205-216. Registration NCT04184622. The weight-reduction and adverse-event figures used across this site.
- The full source ledger — every primary source, what it supports, the date we read it, and the claims we deliberately do not source.