Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program

Last updated: July 1, 2026

The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program is for some Medicare patients who are prescribed a covered GLP-1 medication for weight management.

When a prior authorization meets the Bridge requirements, Develop Health sends the request through the Bridge program.

What must be true

A prior authorization can use the Bridge program when all of these are true:

  • The patient has an eligible Medicare prescription plan.

  • The medication and form are covered by the Bridge program.

  • The medication is prescribed for weight management.

  • The patient is 18 or older.

  • The request includes the required obesity diagnosis information.

  • The patient meets the Bridge clinical criteria.

Covered medications

The Bridge program covers specific GLP-1 products and forms. Some versions of the same medication may not be covered.

Covered Bridge medications include:

  • Foundayo tablets

  • Wegovy injection and tablets

  • Zepbound KwikPen

If the medication or form is not covered by the Bridge program, the prior authorization follows the normal plan route.

Clinical criteria

The Bridge program uses BMI and related conditions to decide whether a patient qualifies.

A related condition may be needed when BMI is below 35. Qualifying related conditions include:

  • Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

  • Uncontrolled hypertension

  • Chronic kidney disease stage 3a or above

  • Prediabetes

  • Prior heart attack

  • Prior stroke

  • Symptomatic peripheral artery disease

When the Bridge program is not used

Some GLP-1 requests should follow the patient's usual Medicare prescription plan instead of the Bridge program.

This may happen when the request is for another covered indication, such as diabetes, sleep apnea, cardiovascular risk reduction, or MASH.

What you may see in Develop Health

If the request meets the Bridge requirements, Develop Health sends it through the Bridge program.

If the request looks like it may qualify but is missing required information, you'll see a warning before submission. Add the missing information if you want the request to go through the Bridge program.

If you continue without the missing information, the request may follow the patient's usual plan route instead.

If the request needs to be rerouted

Develop Health makes best efforts to send each prior authorization to the right place.

If a request is first sent through the patient's usual plan route and later has the information needed for the Bridge program, we can help get it to the Bridge program instead.