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What weight-loss telehealth actually costs
The advertised price is almost never the price. A plain-language teardown of membership fees, teaser rates, and dose surcharges, plus the math for comparing any program honestly, including ours.
Why the advertised price is rarely the price
Weight-loss telehealth ads compete on a single big number. But the industry standard is to split what you actually pay into pieces: a medication price in the ad, and a membership fee, consult fee, or platform fee that appears at checkout or on renewal. None of those pieces are illegal, and each has a plausible story. The effect, though, is that two programs quoting the same headline number can differ by more than a thousand dollars a year.
This guide is the checklist we wish every buyer used, including on us. Every question below has a factual answer a program either publishes or refuses to.
The four places the real price hides
Ask these four questions of any program. The answers are the actual price.
| The pattern | The question that exposes it |
|---|---|
| Membership stacked on medication | Is there any monthly fee besides the medication itself? |
| Teaser first-month rate | What is the renewal price in month two, not month one? |
| Dose-based surcharges | When my physician raises my dose, does my price change? |
| Refund mazes | If I cancel a prepaid plan mid-term, exactly how much comes back? |
A program with nothing to hide answers all four in one sentence. A program built on the gap between the ad and the invoice cannot.
The one-number method
Ignore the ad. Add up everything you would pay across your first six months (medication, membership, consults, shipping, and the renewal rate after any intro period, at the dose your physician is likely to actually reach), then divide by six. That month-six-inclusive number is the only price that can be compared across programs.
Six months matters because that is where the pieces converge: intro pricing has expired, dose titration has typically leveled, and any prepay commitment is half-run. Programs look most different from each other at month six, which is exactly why ads are priced at month one.
How Conduit prices, in the same daylight
One number, all-in: the physician review, monthly adjustments, the pre-filled pen, and cold-chain delivery. Weight loss starts from $129/mo on a 12-month plan, or $169 month to month. The commitment is printed beside the price, never behind an asterisk. There is no membership fee, no consult fee, and your price never changes with your dose.
Prepaid terms still ship monthly, and if you cancel mid-term the unused balance is refunded at the month-to-month rate. The refund math is published, not discovered. You are only charged at all if a physician approves your protocol.
Cheaper is not the argument
Some programs will beat any price. Gray-market vials with no physician, no pharmacy accountability, and no one to call when something feels wrong are always cheaper. The argument here is narrower: whatever program you choose, the price you compare should be the price you will actually pay. Insist on the one-number answer, from us and from everyone.
Questions members actually ask
Why do so many programs charge a membership fee?
It lets the advertised medication price look smaller. The membership is where the physician access, messaging, and platform costs live. Those are real costs, but an all-in price simply includes them in the number you saw.
Is a prepaid annual plan a subscription trap?
It depends entirely on the refund terms. A fair prepaid plan ships monthly, prices the commitment honestly, and publishes the mid-term refund math. If the refund policy takes more than a sentence to explain, price the program at its monthly rate instead.
What does Conduit actually charge?
Weight loss from $129/mo on a 12-month plan ($169 month to month). Recovery and Skin from $199/mo, Vitality from $279/mo, each all-in: physician, adjustments, pen, and delivery. No membership fee, no dose surcharges, and unused prepaid months refund at the month-to-month rate.
Does insurance cover any of this?
Conduit is cash-pay and does not bill insurance. Some members use HSA/FSA funds where their plan allows; your plan administrator is the authority on eligibility.
This guide is educational and is not medical advice. It restates the Conduit clinical protocol in plain language; your physician’s individual guidance always comes first. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.