Doctor-guided GLP⁠-⁠1 care for Vermont

Yes. You complete a short medical intake online, and a doctor licensed in Vermont personally reviews it — Vermont says an online questionnaire alone is not enough to evaluate a new patient, 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 Vermont. 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 Vermont 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 Vermont. Care starts online and medication ships overnight statewide, so care is the same whether you're in Burlington, South Burlington, Rutland, Essex Junction, or a town without a weight-management clinic nearby.

Not through Gentle Health. We do not bill Medicare, Vermont 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. Vermont Medicaid: Not covered for weight loss. The Vermont Preferred Drug List states that drugs used for weight loss are excluded from coverage under the Vermont Medicaid Pharmacy program. Wegovy is reachable only with prior authorization for cardiovascular risk reduction or MASH, Zepbound only for obstructive sleep apnea, and Saxenda does not appear on the list at all.
2. Private plans: Vermont has no law requiring insurers to cover weight-loss drugs. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont ended coverage of Wegovy, Zepbound and Saxenda for weight loss on January 1, 2026, keeping it only for type 2 diabetes and for cardiovascular risk reduction in adults with diagnosed heart disease. Check your own plan.
3. 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, and Vermont says so directly. Vermont counts store-and-forward review — a doctor reviewing your medical information later, without you present — as telehealth under 26 V.S.A. § 3052, and the Board of Medical Practice's telemedicine policy says a doctor-patient relationship can begin without an in-person meeting. But 26 V.S.A. § 1354(a)(33) makes it unprofessional conduct to prescribe by electronic means without a proper relationship, and states that an online or telephonic evaluation by questionnaire is inadequate for a new patient's initial evaluation. A real clinical evaluation, with the doctor asking the follow-up questions the form cannot, is what the law asks for.

Yes, once. Under 18 V.S.A. § 9361(c) a provider must obtain and document your oral or written consent to telehealth before delivering care, after explaining its opportunities and limitations and that the connection is secure — and for ongoing care that consent is needed only at the first episode. If your care is delivered by store-and-forward review, you must also be told of your right to refuse that format and ask for a video visit or an in-person visit instead, and choosing it never stops you from having a video visit later.