Getting a Wegovy prescription starts with a medical evaluation, either with your regular doctor or through a telehealth provider, where you’ll need to meet specific weight-based criteria set by the FDA. The process is straightforward, but insurance coverage and cost can add complexity depending on your plan.
Who Qualifies for Wegovy
The FDA approved Wegovy for adults with a BMI of 30 or higher (obesity), or a BMI of 27 or higher (overweight) if you also have at least one weight-related health condition like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol. For adolescents aged 12 and older, the threshold is a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for their age and sex.
There’s also a separate, newer indication: Wegovy is approved for adults 45 and older who have established heart disease (a prior heart attack, stroke, or peripheral artery disease) along with a BMI of 27 or higher. In this case, the goal is reducing the risk of future cardiovascular events rather than weight loss alone. This distinction matters because it affects how your insurance handles the prescription.
Which Doctors Can Prescribe It
Any licensed prescriber can write a Wegovy prescription. That includes primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, endocrinologists, cardiologists, and gastroenterologists. You don’t need to see a specialist, though obesity medicine doctors and endocrinologists tend to have more experience managing these medications long term.
What matters most is finding a provider who treats obesity as a chronic condition and can follow up with you over time. The medication requires ongoing monitoring and dose adjustments over at least the first four months, so a one-off visit isn’t ideal. If your primary care doctor is comfortable prescribing it, that’s often the simplest path.
Getting a Prescription Through Telehealth
Telehealth is a legitimate route for a Wegovy prescription, though the rules vary by state. Most states require at least a live video or audio visit to establish a real patient-provider relationship. Filling out an online questionnaire alone does not meet the standard of care in most places. A few states, like California, allow more flexibility with asynchronous tools like self-screening questionnaires, while others, like Alabama, require an in-person visit within the prior 12 months before a telehealth provider can prescribe.
Semaglutide (Wegovy’s active ingredient) is not a controlled substance, which simplifies the telehealth prescribing process compared to medications that are. Several telehealth platforms now specialize in weight management and can handle the full process: evaluation, prescribing, and follow-up visits. Just make sure the platform connects you with a licensed provider who conducts a real clinical evaluation, not just a checkbox form.
What to Expect at Your Appointment
Your provider will calculate your BMI, review your medical history, and check for weight-related conditions. Be prepared to discuss previous weight loss attempts, your current diet and activity level, and any medications you take. Some providers will order bloodwork to screen for conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol, which can also support your eligibility.
If you qualify, your provider will write the prescription and explain the dosing schedule. Wegovy uses a gradual ramp-up over 16 weeks to reduce side effects, particularly nausea. You’ll start at 0.25 mg once weekly for the first four weeks, move to 0.5 mg for weeks five through eight, then 1 mg for weeks nine through twelve, and 1.7 mg for weeks thirteen through sixteen. The maintenance dose for adults is typically 2.4 mg, starting at week seventeen. Each dose comes as a prefilled pen you inject under the skin once a week.
Insurance Coverage and Prior Authorization
This is where many people hit a wall. Insurance coverage for Wegovy varies widely, and many plans exclude weight loss medications entirely. UnitedHealthcare, for example, covers Wegovy for cardiovascular risk reduction and for a liver condition called MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), but not for weight loss alone. Other major insurers have similar restrictions.
If your plan does cover it, expect a prior authorization process. For the cardiovascular indication, insurers typically require documentation that you’re 45 or older, have a BMI of 27 or higher, have confirmed heart disease, and are already on standard heart medications like statins and blood pressure drugs. Your provider’s office handles the paperwork, but it can take days to weeks to get approved. If you’re denied, your doctor can often file an appeal with additional clinical documentation.
For weight management coverage specifically, some employer-sponsored plans and state employee plans have started including GLP-1 medications. It’s worth calling the number on the back of your insurance card and asking directly whether Wegovy is covered under your pharmacy benefit for weight management.
Paying Without Full Insurance Coverage
The manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, offers a savings program that can bring your copay down to as little as $25 per month if you have commercial (non-government) insurance, with a maximum savings of $100 per month. The offer also extends to people who are uninsured or paying out of pocket. You can use the savings card each time you fill your prescription as long as the program remains active.
The savings program is not available if you’re on Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA benefits, or any other government insurance. For those patients, options are more limited. Some manufacturers’ patient assistance programs exist for lower-income individuals, but coverage gaps remain significant for government beneficiaries.
Without any insurance or discount, Wegovy’s list price runs over $1,300 per month, so exploring every coverage option before starting is worth your time.
Supply and Filling Your Prescription
Wegovy experienced significant shortages through 2023 and 2024, but the FDA declared the semaglutide injection shortage resolved in February 2025 after confirming that Novo Nordisk was meeting or exceeding demand for all five dose strengths. That said, the FDA acknowledged that localized, intermittent supply disruptions can still happen as products move through wholesalers and distributors to local pharmacies. If your pharmacy is out of stock, calling other locations or asking your pharmacist to check with their distributor can speed things up. Specialty pharmacies that handle mail-order prescriptions sometimes have more reliable supply than retail chains.