Costco offering weight-loss drug prescriptions to members for $179 through healthcare partner Sesame

Costco members don’t need to worry about inflating food court prices if they can curb cravings.

Costco has launched a subscription-based weight loss program for members and non-members of the national wholesaler – which includes access to prescription weight-loss medications.

The wholesaler announced Tuesday that its members will pay just $179 for a three-month subscription to use resources from their healthcare partner Sesame, according to a release.

But fear not, non-Costco cardholders: for just $195 per subscription period, non-members can enjoy all the benefits of the latter.

Sesame claims it is the “most affordable weight loss program in the United States.”

“We are seeing important innovations in medically supervised weight loss,” David Goldhill, co-founder and CEO of Sesame, said in the release.

“Sesame’s unique model allows us to not only make high-quality, specialized care like weight loss much more accessible and affordable, but also to enable clinicians to create specific care plans tailored to each patient.

Once an account is created through Sesame and has been verified with a Costco membership, customers belonging to the wholesaler can expect things like choice of their clinician, three months of clinical consultation, video consultation with the clinician , a nutritional guide and recommendations, and an “individualized and clinically appropriate treatment program.”

The weight loss program also includes access to the GLP-1 prescription weight loss drugs that have swept the country, but will be on a patient-to-patient basis.

Injectable semaglutides like Ozempic and Wegovy and other oral weight loss medications will only be available if a Seasame provider finds the customer to be an applicable candidate, according to the program.

According to Seasame, patients could lose 5% of their body weight in three months, 10% in six months and 15% in a year if they stick to their individualized programs.

The New York-based telehealth company said its clinicians will collect “each patient’s detailed medical history” in order to plan “appropriate diet, exercise and lifestyle modifications” for each subscriber.

“When clinically appropriate, the clinician may also combine these interventions with medications, subject to availability. »

Although the focus is on its virtual care offering, the company also offers in-person care.

Costco began offering primary care doctor visits to its customers through Sesame in the fall for just $29 per visit.

However, this expansion decision came after both companies noticed that a majority of customers using the program were seeking help losing weight.

“It wasn’t what we initially thought would make sense to offer to Costco members who were coming to Sesame,” Sesame’s other co-founder, Michael Botta, told CNN.

“But we realized pretty quickly, just by looking at what people were interested in, that there was a clear unmet need here,” he said.

Costco’s partnership with Sesame makes it the latest retailer to move into remote access for third-party healthcare providers.

Amazon launched its remote healthcare platform, Amazon Clinic, in August, and Walmart offers in-store medical clinics to its customers.