2024-04-02 19:07:00
New York (CNN) — Some people go to Costco for their $1.50 hot dogs, others for their Ozempic recipes.
The warehouse now offers its US partners access to prescriptions for GLP-1 weight loss drugs through its low-cost healthcare partner Sesame.
Costco first partnered with Sesame, a direct-to-consumer healthcare marketplace that connects medical providers across the country with consumers, last fall when it began offering members online health checkups for as little as US$29.
But regarding two months following that announcement, Costco and Sesame realized that customers were asking for help losing weight and began working on a new program to respond to that interest, said Sesame co-founder and CEO David Goldhill. .
“The number one search term for Costco members searching for primary care on Sesame revolved around weight loss,” Goldhill said in an interview with USA Today.
Costco and Sesame did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
The fruit of their labor, a three-month rolling program, officially launched Tuesday and includes a video consultation with a doctor or weight loss specialist, a GLP-1 or weight loss prescription, if applicable , and ongoing support through unlimited messaging and guidance with a healthcare provider.
Sesame says it has an offering of injectable semaglutide, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as oral weight loss medications. The company announces that patients might lose 5% of their body weight in just three months, 10% in six months and 15% in one year.
The cost of the medication is not included in the $179 three-month plan, and Sesame warns on its website that without insurance, GLP-1s can cost between $950 and $1,600 a month.
Ozempic, Wegovy and other GLP-1 prescription drugs have already taken the country’s wealthiest demographics by storm. U.S. healthcare providers wrote more than nine million prescriptions for Wegovy and other injectable drugs used for weight loss during the last three months of 2022 alone. JPMorgan researchers estimate that 30 million people might be taking GLP-1 medications by 2030, or regarding 9% of the US population.
WeightWatchers launched a new membership plan that gives its members access to doctors who can prescribe these medications. It also closed a more than $100 million deal to buy Sequence, a telehealth company that can offer patients virtual prescriptions, if any, for these weight-loss drugs.
Upscale gyms like Life Time are also acquiring weight loss clinics with doctors who can prescribe GLP-1, while Equinox is designing exercise programs specifically for people taking these medications.
— With additional reporting by Nathaniel Meyersohn
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