Kansas Medicaid and anti-obesity medications
Most state criteria in this tier exist to say no. Kansas wrote its to say how. Its anti-obesity criteria cover liraglutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide for obesity itself, start adults at a BMI of 30 — or 27 with one weight-related condition — and reach adolescents at the 95th percentile. Seven older weight drugs skip prior authorization entirely.
What changed, and what the document says
Seven agents with no authorization required
CoveredThe older anti-obesity drugs are simply covered. This is the sentence a Kansas reader should take to a prescriber first.
“Benzphetamine, Diethylpropion, Phendimetrazine, Naltrexone/Bupropion, Orlistat, Phentermine, and Phentermine/Topiramate”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
Said in the document's own footnote
CoveredThe exemption is explicit rather than inferred from an absence on a list.
“are covered products in this class, but do not require PA.”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
Twenty-eight weeks for the two newest drugs
Conditions applyZepbound and Wegovy are carved out of the general renewal rules and get their own approval window, each with its own start date.
“LENGTH OF APPROVAL: For Zepbound (as of 4/1/24) and Wegovy (as of 6/1/25): 28 weeks”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
Then six months, then a year
CoveredRenewals lengthen as you stay on treatment rather than repeating the same short cycle.
“LENGTH OF RENEWAL APPROVAL: 6 months for the first renewal, then 12 months thereafter”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
Five percent at twelve weeks
Conditions applyThe renewal test is a number, and it is measured early. Missing it is how coverage stops.
“The patient has lost a total of 5% of pretreatment weight at 12 weeks and maintains the 5%”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
A weight and a BMI on the request
Conditions applyThe prescriber supplies the baseline, so there is no approval without a recorded starting point.
“Prescriber must provide the patient's baseline weight and BMI.”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
Diet and behavior alongside the drug
Conditions applyKansas writes the lifestyle requirement into the treatment plan rather than leaving it to the label.
“The treatment plan includes comprehensive adjunct lifestyle interventions”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
Samples do not count as history
Conditions applyA detail worth knowing before a step-therapy argument: free starter doses will not satisfy a prior-trial requirement.
“Professional samples are not allowed to establish patient history of medication usage.”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program — Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025
Which of these companies serve Kansas?
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.
16 of those lists name Kansas: Gala Health, Care Bare Rx, TelePeptide, Wisp, WePeptideRx, Ways2Well, TeleClinic, Tyde Wellness, ZYP Medical, The Virtual NP, Trimi, Enhance MD, HumeCare+, 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.
- Criteria for Prior Authorization — Anti-Obesity Medications (AOMs) — Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Division of Health Care Finance — Kansas Medical Assistance Program. The document prints an approval date and its whole revision list, not a single date — reproduced in full because the newest line alone would hide that the criteria predate every GLP-1 on them: Initial Approval: September 14, 2007; Revised Dates: August 14, 2024; January 17, 2024; July 19, 2023; October 19, 2022; July 21, 2021; April 21, 2021; January 11, 2017; July 8, 2015; April 8, 2015; January 14, 2015; September 2014; April 9, 2014; October 10, 2012; June 15, 2011; Minor updates 6/1/2025.
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.
Nurx, Knownwell and Red Mountain Weight Loss pay us nothing — none of the 3 below does. The buttons run through our own redirect so we can count the click, and counting is all they do.
| Grade | Provider | What a month actually costs | The one thing that matters here | Go to the provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMinor gap | Nurx | $94a month, everything billed monthly$15 brand metformin + $79 a month for provider support feeRecurring monthly, and not billable to insurance.The lowest of the 3 medication prices we captured hereCharged per visit rather than every month, so it is not in the figure above: $79 for weight management consultation. | Prices bupropion and naltrexone at $60 a month — one of the seven agents Kansas covers with no authorization at all, so this is the price you would be paying instead of a copay. | See its prices at Nurx (opens in a new tab)Pays us nothing |
| 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 | Lists Wegovy by form and strength — $349 for the pen, $199 as a new-patient offer, $149 for the pill — so a Kansas reader can see what the drug costs if the twenty-eight weeks run out. | See its prices at Knownwell (opens in a new tab)Pays us nothing |
| FFail | Red Mountain Weight Loss | $99a month, medication onlycompounded GLP-1Medication 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.The lowest of the 2 medication prices we captured here | Sells compounded GLP-1 plans at $149 and $99, which is the number to weigh against a Kansas approval that renews only if you hit five percent by week twelve. | See its prices at Red Mountain Weight Loss (opens in a new tab)Pays us nothing |
Our grading method and how we verify a price explain what those letters mean and where these figures came from.