Doctor-guided GLP⁠-⁠1 care for Iowa

Yes. You complete a short medical intake online, and a doctor licensed in Iowa personally reviews it — Iowa requires an adaptive, interactive interview rather than a fixed questionnaire, so your doctor may message you with follow-up questions or ask you to book a video visit. If treatment is appropriate for you, your prescription is filled by a licensed US pharmacy and shipped overnight to your door anywhere in Iowa. You may not need to visit a clinic in person.

Our semaglutide program starts at $112/month (once-daily oral drops) or $135/month (weekly injections). Tirzepatide starts 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. We charge one all-in monthly price with the medication, doctor visits, and shipping included, so there is no prior authorization. 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), available as once-daily oral drops or a weekly injection, and compounded tirzepatide (the active ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro) as a weekly injection. The injections also contain an added ingredient, such as a B vitamin, that the brand products do not. Your doctor recommends the medication, form, and dose that fit your health history and goals.

James Simmons, MD, our medical director, is licensed in Iowa 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 Iowa. Care starts online and medication ships overnight statewide, so care is the same whether you're in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, or a town without a weight-management clinic nearby.

Not through Gentle Health. We do not bill Medicare, Iowa 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. Iowa Medicaid: Not covered for weight loss. The exclusion sits in the programme itself at 441-78.2(4), and Wegovy and Zepbound appear on the drug list only tagged weight loss indication not covered.
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.

An online review is enough. Iowa rule 481-655.9(8) makes an in-person interview and examination the general rule, but allows a remote one where the technology is sufficient to establish an informed diagnosis as though it had been done in person, and Iowa's definition of telemedicine expressly includes asynchronous store-and-forward review. The same subrule says a static questionnaire (fixed questions answered with fixed answers, in contrast to an adaptive, interactive and responsive online interview) is not an acceptable interview and examination, and 655.9(21) prohibits prescribing based solely on one. Iowa is specific about what does not count: care delivered only by audio-only telephone, email, fax or post, alone or in combination, is outside its telemedicine definition.