The GLP-1 Affordability Index, 2026

Finding 1 — the advertised price is the floor of a range, not the price

Of the rows where fee structure is on file, 4 carry a recorded membership fee (median $77/mo, range $75–$79) on top of the advertised figure, while 12 rows have a recorded $0. Medication-excluded pricing exists and is legal — Mochi’s verified $99/$199 medication-only prices become $178/$278 all-in — which is why this dataset stores medication_included and all-in restatements rather than trusting headlines.

Finding 2 — month one is a marketing number

12 programs on file publish an intro price alongside a renewal price; where the intro is lower, the median month-one discount is 47% (range 20–56%). Price month two before month one — the self-pay page walks the four traps.

Finding 3 — commitment is the real discount lever

Across the 15 programs publishing both, a 12-month term cuts the monthly rate by a median 22% versus month-to-month — larger than most intro discounts, and durable instead of one-off. The trade is lock-in; the refund questions that matter are on the multi-month page.

Finding 4 — dose policy predicts year-one cost better than price

9 rows carry a documented flat-rate policy against 2 documented dose-tier policies (most rows: not yet recorded). Tiered programs on file run to $449–$699 at top doses while flat programs hold their entry price — the spread that makes high-dose pricing its own ranking.

Finding 5 — the 4-week clock adds 8.3% invisibly

“Monthly” billed every 28 days produces 13 payments a year — a structural +8.3% that survives every coupon. All index prices are restated to the 30.44-day month before comparison; the month-to-month page shows the arithmetic.

Method, and how to cite this

Every figure on this page is computed at build time from the open dataset (JSON, field-level change history) — nothing is hand-entered, so the page cannot drift from the data. Statuses: verified = first-party page captured on the stated date; reported = third-party or conflicting source, labeled. Preferred citation: “Affordable GLP-1 Providers, GLP-1 Affordability Index, computed 2026-08-26.”