Price-index methodology
How GLP-1 Price Index turns documented prices into a reproducible index value, and the rules that keep incomparable categories from being merged.
Each category index takes the median verified effective monthly cost of every eligible program, sets the baseline-period median to 100, and reports the current median as a proportion of that baseline. Medians (not means) are used; programs are equally weighted; affiliate status never affects weighting; and clinically or commercially different categories are never combined.
Step 1: effective monthly cost
For each program we compute total mandatory payments for the compared treatment period — medication plus required membership, clinician, laboratory, onboarding, shipping, and dose surcharges, minus generally available discounts — divided by months supplied. Conditional rebates, financing, tax effects, and non-general assistance are not deducted.
Step 2: baseline and index value
The baseline-period category median is set to 100. The current index value equals the current median effective monthly cost divided by the baseline-period median, times 100. A value of 110 means the category median is 10 percent above baseline; 90 means 10 percent below. The first snapshot necessarily reads 100 because it defines the baseline.
Step 3: inclusion and weighting rules
Each eligible program is weighted equally. We never weight by affiliate status, revenue, traffic, popularity, or conversion rate. We use the median rather than the mean unless a documented reason supports another measure. Programs with conflicting evidence, missing mandatory-fee data, introductory-only pricing, or discontinued status are excluded rather than assigned a favorable default. Every snapshot publishes its sample size, eligible-program list, verification cutoff, and methodology version.
Worked calculation
| Program | Effective monthly ($) |
|---|---|
| OrderlyMeds | 74 |
| NexLife | 145 |
| Mochi Health | 178 |
| Henry Meds | 197 |
| Eden Health | 229 |
| MEDVi | 299 |
With six eligible programs, the median of $74, $145, $178, $197, $229, $299 is the average of the two middle values ($178 and $197), which is $187.50, rounded to $187. Because this is the first documented snapshot, the baseline median is also $187, so the index value is ($187 ÷ $187) × 100 = 100. When a later snapshot is captured, the index will move if the median shifts — for example, a future median of $178 would give an index of 95, a 5 percent decline.
Category separation
We never combine brand and compounded, semaglutide and tirzepatide, weight-management and diabetes indications, medication-only and complete-program prices, microdose and standard-dose, monthly and prepaid, or injectable and ODT into one aggregate number. Each is a separate index with its own baseline and sample.
Sources
- Evidence ledger and index dataset: evidence-ledger.csv, price-index.json
- Affordability method: affordability methodology; provider scoring: provider scoring.
- FDA — compounded GLP-1 status and 2025–2026 shortage-resolution policy. fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding