Sesame Care

The membership price depends which page you land on

Sesame quotes its weight-loss membership at two different figures for the same programme. The Zepbound page: "The Success by Sesame subscription starts at just $99 per month". The Wegovy page, answering the identical question: "The Success by Sesame program starts at just $59 per month with an annual subscription". The Zepbound page never mentions the "$59" annual rate; the Wegovy page never mentions "$99".

Either way the membership excludes medication — stated plainly on both pages — and providers set their own prices, so the figure is a floor rather than a rate: "Note that providers on Sesame set their own prices, which means that some providers may offer the service at a higher price."

Billing cadence contradicts itself on a single page: one answer says the month-to-month plan is "Billed every month at $99 per month", another says "Billed every 28 days". Twenty-eight days is thirteen charges a year.

The prices you see are mostly other companies'

This is the most useful thing to understand about Sesame. The Zepbound cash prices it advertises are LillyDirect's, not Sesame's: medication is "available at a significantly lower cash price for self-pay patients when your Sesame provider sends your Rx to the LillyDirect pharmacy." The Wegovy $199 figure is a manufacturer promotion with its own end date and its own exclusions.

So Sesame is best understood as paying for the clinician and the paperwork while the drug is bought at the manufacturer's own price. That is a legitimate model, and on the plus side its catalogue is brand-only. But it means comparing Sesame's medication prices against another provider's is really comparing manufacturer prices you could reach directly.

What the membership buys

A live video consultation with a provider you choose, unlimited messaging, follow-up visits, and prior-authorisation help: "Your Sesame provider will work directly with your insurance to handle any prior authorization paperwork."

Labs are advertised as included — "Labs included to monitor your weight loss progress over time" — but that is qualified twice, and inconsistently. The programme page excludes nine states from lab coverage: AZ, HI, ND, NJ, NY, OK, RI, SD and WY. Copy carried with the medication pages excludes three: NJ, NY and RI. The medication pages themselves say only "Labs included", with no carve-out visible.

Strictly cash-pay, and you must certify it

Sesame states: "Sesame does not accept Medicare, Medicaid, or any other third-party insurance", and its prescription services are "exclusively cash-pay". You must certify you are not a federal health care programme beneficiary, and providing false information is grounds for termination.

Money spent here does not help your drug coverage: "Any payments made to Sesame for the prescription service do not count towards prescription drug coverage out of pocket expenses." Membership discounts also "cannot be used in conjunction with insurance."

Two published refund policies that do not match

The terms of service say refunds are unavailable for "Any request made 10 days after the original purchase date", and that cancellation must be "up to forty-eight (48) hours before the applicable renewal processing date". The weight-loss FAQ says something different: a full refund only "if you ... cancel at least 3 hours prior to your initial visit start time", with no 48-hour rule mentioned. The FAQ then directs readers back to the terms for the full policy.

Prepaid multi-month plans are re-priced if you leave early — your discount is clawed back at the standard monthly rate for each month used, "including any partial month", and "in some cases the adjusted value of services used may equal or exceed the amount originally paid, in which case no refund will be issued."

There is no refund for a clinical no: "Refund requests due to not receiving a prescription or disagreement with the clinical outcome of the visit" is on the non-refundable list. And the first prescription is locked — "the initial prescription cannot be cancelled or refunded", though later refills can be stopped before they ship.

One practical gap

Sesame notes that Zepbound vials "require a separate needle and syringe", and does not say who supplies them. Its compounded product pages now redirect to the general weight-loss page, so compounded pricing is no longer on a public product page.