The news: Walgreens is rolling out a weight management program that includes access to GLP-1 medications via telehealth.

• The program is for overweight or obese adults ages 18 to 64 who pay out of pocket for their weight loss medication.
• A $49 telehealth visit (available in about half of US states) determines whether a prescription for an FDA-approved GLP-1 (not a compounded version) is appropriate.

Why it matters: Walgreens joins a crowded group of healthcare companies offering online access to weight loss medications.

The retailer has offered direct-to-consumer (D2C) telehealth for a few years, but only recently expanded into weight management. It likely aimed to stick to basic primary care services but couldn’t ignore consumer demand for GLP-1s. Walgreens’ chief pharmacy officer, Rick Gates, said the move was driven in part by customer interest in weight loss medications.

Walgreens is further distancing itself from the structural complexities of care delivery and taking insurance for medical services rendered. The company is now owned by a private equity firm and operates independently from VillageMD, the primary care chain it once invested billions in. Walgreens also isn’t accepting insurance for its weight management or other telehealth services, likely to avoid administrative and billing hassles and lower reimbursement rates. It’s instead leaning into a lower-friction D2C virtual care strategy to complement its pharmacy business.

Implications for D2C telehealth companies: Walgreens faces stiff competition in the online weight loss drug market, but it has a few advantages as a household name in pharmacy.

• It interacts with roughly 9 million customers daily across stores and online, which is far more than most telehealth-focused GLP-1 players.
• And its longstanding relationship with pharmacy patients makes it a more established healthcare destination than many rivals.

With telehealth access to GLP-1s now commonplace and prices significantly lower, patient retention will hinge on trust and rapport with providers, an easy online/app-based experience, and consistent follow-up support for medication and side-effect management.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Not a subscriber? Click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.