Alabama Medicaid and GLP-1s
Alabama's drug list carries both weight-management GLP-1s and a footnote under each that takes the weight indication back. Zepbound is preferred for obstructive sleep apnea with obesity and non-covered for weight reduction without it. Wegovy is available by authorization for cardiovascular risk and liver disease, and non-covered for weight reduction. The criteria document behind the footnotes requires no diagnosis of diabetes on any of these routes.
What changed, and what the document says
Zepbound is preferred, for one diagnosis
Conditions applyThe footnote scopes the preferred status to a single indication rather than to the drug.
“Zepbound is preferred with clinical criteria for”
Alabama Medicaid Agency — Effective 07/01/2026
And non-covered without it
Not coveredThe second half of the same footnote is the refusal, in the list's own words.
“Zepbound is non-covered for weight”
Alabama Medicaid Agency — Effective 07/01/2026
Wegovy carries the same sentence
Not coveredAlabama added Wegovy to the list effective July 2026 and excluded the weight indication in the same act.
“Wegovy is non-covered for weight reduction.”
Alabama Medicaid Agency — Effective 07/01/2026
No diabetes diagnosis on these routes
Conditions applyThe criteria put the sleep-apnea threshold and the age floor in one sentence, and close it by excluding diabetes.
“moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] ≥15)”
Alabama Medicaid Agency, Division of Pharmacy Services — Effective 07/01/2026
Counseling, and no stacking
Conditions applyBoth conditions are in one attestation, so a prescriber confirms them together.
“The patient has been counseled to continue a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity”
Alabama Medicaid Agency, Division of Pharmacy Services — Effective 07/01/2026
The liver route needs documentation of the indication
Conditions applyAlabama's MASH pathway is conditioned on evidence for the labeled indication and, again, on not having diabetes.
“with no diagnosis of diabetes.”
Alabama Medicaid Agency, Division of Pharmacy Services — Effective 07/01/2026
Which of these companies serve Alabama?
Of the 242 companies we grade, 25 publish a list of the states they are licensed in. We checked 214 more and found no such list on any page we read; 3 we have not checked either way.
10 of those lists name Alabama: Gala Health, Care Bare Rx, TelePeptide, Ways2Well, TeleClinic, Tyde Wellness, Trimi, Rx.com, Mojoon and Peak Wellness. That is a licensure claim each company makes about itself, not something we checked with a state board.
A published list is a starting point, not a guarantee. If availability decides your choice, ask before you pay and get the answer in writing.
Sources
Each document below was fetched and read on the date shown beside it, which is the date printed on the document — not always the date in its web address. All of them were read in September 2026, the same session as the rest of this page.
- Alabama Medicaid Agency Preferred Drug List (PDL) Reference Tool — Alabama Medicaid Agency. Printed in the footer of every page: Effective 07/01/2026.
- Preferred Drug and Prior Authorization Program — Prior Authorization (PA) Criteria Instructions — Alabama Medicaid Agency, Division of Pharmacy Services. Printed in the footer of every page; the only effective date on the paper: Effective 07/01/2026.
Nothing on this page is medical advice, and nobody here is a clinician. Coverage rules change; check the linked document before you rely on it.
If you're paying cash instead
None of the above changes what a telehealth seller charges you. 1 of these 3 bills a fee every month on top of the medication, so the figure is the two added together. The other 2 say in the cell what we could capture and what we could not. Every number was read on the seller's own page; the adding up is ours.
1 of these 3 pays us a commission if you start there: Oak. Knownwell and Medi-Weightloss pay us nothing. A commission never changes a grade.
| Grade | Provider | What a month actually costs | The one thing that matters here | Go to the provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMinor gap | Knownwell | $149a month, medication onlybrand Wegovy Pill, 1.5 mgMedication only. We captured no separate monthly charge on the pages we read, which is what we found rather than proof that nothing else is billed.Captioned as holding until the end of August 2026, which had passed when this was read.The lowest of the 5 medication prices we captured here | Wegovy priced by form — $349 for the pen, $199 as a new-patient offer, $149 for the pill — the drug Alabama listed and footnoted out for weight reduction in the same month. | See its prices at Knownwell (opens in a new tab)Pays us nothing |
| CCaveat | Medi-Weightloss | $248a month, everything billed monthly$99 compounded semaglutide, first month + $149 a month for hormone optimization membershipThe only recurring monthly figure published anywhere on this company's site.The only figure published for this drug. No second-month rate appears on any page we read.The lowest of the 2 medication prices we captured hereCharged per visit rather than every month, so it is not in the figure above: $199 for new patient visit, $50 for visit cost with insurance, $49 for hormone optimization screener lab, $149 for hormone optimization full panel labs. | A $199 new-patient visit with a $99 first month of compounded semaglutide, so the first month and the standing months are different numbers. | See its prices at Medi-Weightloss (opens in a new tab)Pays us nothing |
| FFail | Oak | $190a month, medication onlycompounded semaglutideMedication only. We captured no separate monthly charge on the pages we read, which is what we found rather than proof that nothing else is billed.Oak states this as a program-wide starting figure, not a price for semaglutide specifically — it does not price any single medication anywhere on its site. Its homepage answers the same cost question with a lower number. | Compounded semaglutide at $190 with nothing bundled, the plainest cash figure to hold against a footnote that says non-covered. | See its prices at Oak (opens in a new tab)Pays us a commission |
Our grading method and how we verify a price explain what those letters mean and where these figures came from.