How to save money on Trelegy Ellipta

In this article:

• How much does Trelegy cost?
• How to save money on Trelegy
• Is there a cheaper alternative to Trelegy?
• Does insurance cover Trelegy?
• Why is Trelegy so expensive?

In this article

• How much does Trelegy cost?
• How to save money on Trelegy
• Is there a cheaper alternative to Trelegy?
• Does insurance cover Trelegy?
• Why is Trelegy so expensive?

If you have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), you may have been prescribed Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol) to help manage your symptoms. This prescription inhaler combines three drugs—one steroid and two bronchodilators—to improve breathing and lung function for 24 hours. If you don’t have insurance or your plan doesn’t cover Trelegy, you could end up spending a lot of money on this inhaler. Currently, there is no generic form of Trelegy, and prescription costs are typically higher for brand-name drugs. If you’re looking for ways to save money on Trelegy, we have a few tips for cutting back on the cost.

How much does Trelegy cost?

Without health insurance, the average cost of Trelegy is about $917 per month. You’ll get a single plastic inhaler with two foil strips that each have 30 blisters of inhalation powder. Each inhaled dose of Trelegy uses two blisters, one from each foil strip, so the inhaler represents a 30-day supply. (You may see “60” printed on your prescription: This is the number of blisters inside the inhaler, not the number of doses.)

When used as a long-term maintenance treatment, Trelegy Ellipta will cost more than $10,000 a year for uninsured patients.

How to save money on Trelegy

Whatever type of insurance coverage you have, you may be able to reduce the amount of money you pay for Trelegy. If you don’t have insurance at all, a prescription discount card like the one offered by SingleCare can help lower your out-of-pocket costs. Here are all the ways to save money on Trelegy.

1. SingleCare Trelegy coupons

If you don’t have insurance coverage, SingleCare can help you save on prescription drug costs with its coupon savings card by allowing you to comparison shop at your local pharmacies for the lowest-cost medication. It’s free and easy to use. You can choose a pharmacy to fill your prescription based on the cost of the drug using your SingleCare coupons, or you can give your discount card information to your regular pharmacy and ask them to apply it to your prescriptions. 

Using SingleCare coupons, you could get a one-month supply of Trelegy (i.e., 30 doses) for as low as $534 compared with the average retail price of $917. Because SingleCare negotiates with pharmacies to reduce prescription drug costs for consumers, prices vary from one pharmacy to the next. Different drug amounts and formulations may also have different pricing, and sometimes, prices change slightly based on consumer demand.

2. Manufacturer savings offer

GSK, the manufacturer of Trelegy, offers a savings program. You may be eligible if you have commercial insurance that does not cover the entire cost of your Trelegy prescription. However, eligibility is limited. People with government insurance (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE) and people with step therapy or prior authorization restrictions are all ineligible for this offer. There is also a maximum savings limit. You can read more about specific eligibility requirements on the Trelegy website. 

3. GSK $35 cap per month program

As of Jan. 1, 2025, GSK started capping out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for all its inhaled asthma and chronic lung disease medicines for eligible patients in the U.S., including Trelegy Ellipta. This is not the same as the manufacturer’s savings offer. This $35 cap should be automatically applied to your prescription, but you can ask your pharmacist to confirm details. 

4. GSK Patient Assistance Program

People without any insurance coverage or who are unable to afford the cost of Trelegy Ellipta with their Medicare plan can enroll in the GSK Patient Assistance Program for additional support. There are household income eligibility requirements based on your state of residence that need to be met, though. Patient assistance programs typically provide medicines at no cost to eligible patients. You can contact GSK for more info and eligibility requirements..

5. Tier exceptions

If Trelegy is listed as a preferred drug for your Medicare or Medicaid plan, you may be able to ask for a tier exception to potentially reduce your costs. This could allow you to receive a preferred drug at a lower copay (or, in insurance-speak, at a lower “cost-share” with your insurance plan). 

This doesn’t excuse you from going through the prior authorization process, though. You still have to work with your healthcare provider’s office to show that other lower-tier drugs are not an option for you, and then you can apply for a tier exception to use Trelegy at a lower-tier cost. 

Is there a cheaper alternative to Trelegy?

There are cheaper alternatives to Trelegy, but you would have to work with your healthcare provider to find the right substitutions. Because Trelegy contains three drugs—an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), and a long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist (LABA)—you might be able to use two or three separate inhalers to achieve the same combination of drugs, according to Christie Kunde, Pharm.D., of Informed Rx.

Compare Trelegy alternatives
Drug name	Type of drug	Cost with SingleCare card*
Generic Advair Diskus (fluticasone/salmeterol)	ICS and LABA inhaler	$79 per 60-dose inhaler with 250 mcg fluticasone and 50 mcg salmeterol per puff
Generic Advair HFA (fluticasone/salmeterol)	ICS and LABA inhaler	$263 per 12 g inhaler with  115 mcg fluticasone propionate and 21 mcg salmeterol per puff
Generic Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol)	ICS and LABA inhaler	$156 per 10.2 g inhaler with 160 mcg budesonide and 4.5 mcg formoterol per puff
Generic Spiriva HandiHaler (tiotropium)	LAMA inhaler	$266 for 30 inhaler capsules
Dulera (mometasone/formoterol)	ICS and LABA inhaler	$337 per 13 g inhaler with 200 mcg mometasone and 5 mcg formoterol per puff

*Drug prices fluctuate and vary by pharmacy and location. These are the most current prices as of the time of publication.

Does insurance cover Trelegy?

With commercial insurance, Trelegy may be covered by your plan for little or no cost, but it’s plan-dependent. You’ll need to check your benefits to see if Trelegy is covered or whether you need to have a specific diagnosis to receive full or partial coverage.

“Medicare and Medicaid plans cover Trelegy for asthma or COPD treatment,” says Dr. Kunde, although prior authorization is usually required. Prior authorization is a process insurance companies use to determine your eligibility for coverage when filling a prescription or receiving a health service. Different states have different requirements for prior authorization, depending on whether or not Trelegy is on their list of preferred medications—drugs the state asks providers to try to prescribe first or instead of other drugs to reduce spending. 

Although Medicaid and Medicare cover Trelegy in most cases, the copay varies by state and plan. According to the manufacturer of Trelegy, GSK, most Medicaid patients will pay between $5 and $10 per month for Trelegy, but Medicare copays are harder to predict. GSK states that about 82% of paid Trelegy prescriptions cost less than $50 per month and that the remaining paid prescriptions cost about $159 per month on Medicare. 

Why is Trelegy so expensive?

According to Christina M. Madison, Pharm.D., founder and CEO of The Public Health Pharmacist, the cash price of Trelegy is high because it’s only available as a brand-name drug and is still under patent protection by GSK.  

Generic drugs are less expensive than brand-name drugs, but when there’s no generic form available, the price of brand-name drugs is often expensive. Dr. Kunde added that the price of Trelegy is also likely influenced by the fact that it’s a combination inhaler with three medications in one.

Your healthcare provider is the best person to help you find alternatives to Trelegy that are safe for you. They may also be able to recommend other ways to save money on your Trelegy prescription.