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Key takeaways
Saxenda costs an average of $1,803 without insurance, but there are various ways to make it more affordable.
Saxenda is not covered by Medicare prescription drug plans, but it may be covered by insurance or Medicaid, depending on your plan and state of residence.
If you find that Saxenda is not covered by your insurance, your healthcare provider may be able to recommend an alternative medication that could be effective as part of your weight loss plan.
As part of a weight loss program that also includes a healthy diet and exercise, your healthcare provider may prescribe Saxenda (liraglutide), a brand-name prescription drug manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Saxenda is an injectable medicine for adults with obesity (a BMI of 30 or higher) or who have a BMI of 27 or higher with a weight-related medical condition. It is also used for children ages 12–17 with a body weight above 132 pounds and a starting BMI of 30 or higher to help them lose weight and keep it off.
Saxenda is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. GLP-1s work by enhancing insulin secretion, suppressing glucagon secretion, slowing gastric emptying, and reducing appetite.
RELATED: Saxenda for weight loss: What you need to know
How much does Saxenda cost without insurance?
The average retail price of Saxenda without insurance is $1,803 for 5, 3 mL pens, which is a 30-day supply at the maintenance dose. Prices vary by pharmacy and location.
Does insurance cover Saxenda?
Insurance coverage varies by plan, and weight loss drugs aren’t always covered. Novo Nordisk has a tool you can use to check whether your health insurance covers Saxenda, but the best way to be sure is to review your drug formulary or contact your insurance company directly.
There’s another medication with the same active ingredient as Saxenda (liraglutide) that insurance may be more likely to cover: Victoza. While Victoza and Saxenda both contain liraglutide, they have different maximum dosages and different FDA approvals. Saxenda is approved for weight loss in adults and children ages 12 and older. Victoza is approved for Type 2 diabetes in people ages 10 and older and to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Victoza may be prescribed off-label for weight loss, which is a use less likely to be covered by insurance.
A generic form of Victoza, liraglutide, is FDA-approved for Type 2 diabetes, but there is no generic available for Saxenda for weight loss. However, healthcare providers may prescribe generic liraglutide off-label for weight loss.
Medicare does not cover Saxenda. If you have Medicaid, you can check with your state’s Medicaid office to see whether it covers weight loss medications.
Can I get Saxenda for free?
You may wonder how to get Saxenda for free. If you have health insurance or Medicaid coverage for Saxenda, you may be able to get it for free. However, drug formularies vary, so the best way to check is to contact your health insurance company. You can also check the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s Medicine Assistance Tool (MAT), a search engine for many of the biopharmaceutical industry’s patient assistance resources.
How to save money on Saxenda
There are ways to save on Saxenda if you don’t have insurance or if your insurance plan won’t cover it. Even if your health insurance covers Saxenda, you may get a lower price with a Saxenda coupon.
With SingleCare coupons, you can potentially save money each month on your Saxenda prescription. You can access these coupons by getting a free SingleCare prescription discount card that unlocks members-only savings at local pharmacies. You can also compare pharmacy prices near you and choose the one offering Saxenda at the lowest price. Although the average retail price of Saxenda is $1,803 for a supply of 5, 3 mL pens, you may get it for as low as $1,197, depending on your choice of pharmacy. Keep in mind that prices vary by quantity, strength, form of medication, and location.
Novo Nordisk offered a Saxenda Savings card that allowed patients to save up to $200 per month on Saxenda, but it expired in 2023.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Saxenda?
There are some alternatives to Saxenda that your healthcare provider may consider, including other injectable GLP-1 medications or GIP/GLP-1 medications. “Saxenda works by helping increase insulin release when there are high glucose levels in the blood,” explains Gianna R. D’Angelo, Pharm. D., clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at D’Youville School of Pharmacy in Buffalo, New York. “It also delays gastric emptying, which helps suppress appetite and decreases caloric intake. This promotes weight loss.” Other GLP-1s work the same way, but they may not be much more affordable.
RELATED: The expanding use of GLP-1s
Another GLP-1 medication approved for weight loss is Wegovy (semaglutide). While they have different active ingredients, both Wegovy and Saxenda are approved for weight loss for people ages 12 and older. Wegovy has the same active ingredient as Ozempic, which is semaglutide, but Ozempic is approved for people with Type 2 diabetes, not weight loss. Wegovy is also approved to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in adults with cardiovascular disease and obesity or who are overweight. Ozempic is approved to reduce the risk of MACE in adults with Type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease and to reduce the risk of end-stage kidney disease and cardiovascular death in adults with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
“There are also a number of oral medications that are FDA approved for weight management,” says Jessica Cutler, MD, of The Maryland Bariatric Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. These include Qsymia (phentermine and topiramate) and Contrave (naltrexone/bupropion). “These cost less per month than Saxenda if a patient has to pay out of pocket,” Dr. Cutler says. With a SingleCare coupon for Qsymia, you could pay as low as $173 for 30, 7.5 mg/46 mg capsules.
Talk to your healthcare provider about whether Saxenda or an alternative is right for you. Dr. Cutler cautions that people who take Saxenda or another weight loss medication but who don’t eat a healthy diet are not likely to lose meaningful weight. “Eating less might mean eating smaller portions, eating less frequently, or eating fewer calories by changing the composition of the food that they eat,” she says. “Any or all of those will be helpful in yielding weight loss. The job of the medication is to make those changes easier to sustain.”
- Find out if your insurance covers Saxenda, Novo Nordisk (2025)
- I know my insurance does not cover Saxenda, but I still want to save on it, Novo Nordisk (2024)
- Medicine Assistance Tool, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America