Doctor-guided GLP⁠-⁠1 care for Washington, DC

Yes. You complete a short medical intake online, and a doctor licensed in Washington, DC personally reviews it — no video visit needed (you can book one if you want it). If treatment is appropriate for you, your prescription is filled by a licensed US pharmacy and shipped overnight to your door anywhere in Washington, DC. You don't need to visit a clinic to start treatment.

Semaglutide injections start at $135/month and tirzepatide at $169/month. The price includes the medication itself, your doctor visits, ongoing medical supervision, and overnight refrigerated shipping. There is no membership fee, and the intake and your doctor's first review or visit are free: you pay nothing until you choose to start medication.

Not at this time. For compounded medicine we charge one all-in monthly price with the medication, doctor visits, and shipping included, so there is no prior authorization. Brand-name care is $28/month for the doctor, and you buy the medicine from the maker's pharmacy. HSA and FSA cards are accepted at checkout, and we provide itemized receipts and a Letter of Medical Necessity on request.

Compounded semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic) and compounded tirzepatide (the active ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro), each as a weekly injection. Tirzepatide and semaglutide injections may contain nothing added or a B vitamin. Your doctor recommends the medication, form, and dose that fit your health history and goals.

James Simmons, MD, our medical director, is licensed in Washington, DC and board-certified in emergency medicine (ABEM). He personally reviews your intake, meets with you over video when either of you wants a visit, and supervises your treatment over time.

All of Washington, DC. Care is fully online and medication ships overnight to every address, so care is the same wherever you are in Washington, DC.

Not through Gentle Health. We do not bill Medicare, DC Medicaid or private insurance, and everyone pays the prices shown on this page. To pursue coverage instead you would need a provider who accepts your plan and prescribes a medication it covers — the FDA-approved brands, not a compounded preparation. Where each programme stands:

1. DC Medicaid: Not covered for weight loss. The District's fee-for-service drug list carries GLP-1s only in a diabetes class, and anti-obesity drugs are named among its excluded classes.
2. Medicare: Coverage may still be possible through the federal GLP-1 Bridge: a $50 copay for Wegovy, Zepbound or Foundayo through December 31, 2027, for Part D enrollees with a BMI of 35 or more, or lower with specific heart, stroke, artery, blood-pressure, kidney or prediabetes conditions. Type 2 diabetes, moderate-to-severe sleep apnea and MASH are covered through regular Part D instead.

No. The District's telemedicine rule, 17 DCMR § 4618, expressly permits the practitioner-patient relationship to be established during a real-time telemedicine interaction, with no prior in-person visit, and requires a patient evaluation before prescribing rather than an examination in the room. To treat you by telehealth while you are in DC, your doctor needs a District licence; apart from interstate licensure compacts, D.C. Code § 3-1201.05(e) excepts only a doctor who already has a relationship with you, and then only while you are temporarily in DC or, if you live in DC, for no more than 120 days of telehealth care (or longer if the Mayor sets a longer period by rule).

Registration before it ships anything in. Under 22-B DCMR § 1903, an out-of-state pharmacy must register with DC Health as a nonresident pharmacy before shipping prescription drugs into the District, and disclose its sterile-compounding activity on that application. A pharmacy that is solely or primarily internet-based must also hold VIPPS certification or another national internet-pharmacy certification DC Health accepts, and register with the District as a foreign corporation.