Lilly Cares Foundation is a nonprofit charity that provides prescribed Lilly medicines free, for up to 12 months, to qualifying patients in the United States[1]. It is separate from Lilly’s savings cards and from LillyDirect. It asks three things of an applicant: that the medicine is on its list, that your insurance fits the medicine’s group, and that your income is under that group’s limit[3].
Which GLP-1 medicines it covers
Trulicity is on the Available Medications list[2]. Mounjaro, Zepbound and Foundayo are not[2]. The rest of the list is insulins, cancer medicines, migraine and immunology drugs, and a few others[2].
When the list was read, the program’s pages carried a notice that new Trulicity applications are once again accepted and no longer need a medical exception request[1]. Trulicity’s cash price and card terms are in Trulicity price.
Who qualifies
You must be a permanent resident of the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with a prescription for a listed medicine[3]. You cannot be enrolled in Medicaid, full Low Income Subsidy (Extra Help) and Veterans (VA) benefits[3]. You are also ineligible if an employer or plan requires you to apply to Lilly Cares as a condition of coverage, which the program calls an alternative funding program[3].
Trulicity sits in Group 1, which is open to people with no insurance or with Medicare Part D whose household adjusted gross income is at or below 300% of the federal poverty level[3]. People in Alaska or Hawaii are told to call for their own limits[3].
| People | Income limit | Poverty line |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $47,880 | $15,960 |
| 2 | $64,920 | $21,640 |
| 3 | $81,960 | $27,320 |
| 4 | $99,000 | $33,000 |
| 5 | $116,040 | $38,680 |
| 6 | $133,080 | $44,360 |
The limits are 3 times the 2026 poverty guideline for each household size[4]. Lilly Cares says it verifies both income and insurance, using a reporting agency for income and an electronic benefits service for insurance, and may ask for documents[3].
How applying works
You can apply online, print a blank form and fill it in by hand, or call to have one mailed[3]. You complete and sign the patient sections, and your prescriber completes the prescriber section and submits a prescription[3]. Paper forms go by fax or mail[3].
A complete application is processed in about three to five business days, and missing information slows it down[3]. Approval brings a letter giving your enrollment end date, generally 12 months out or, on Medicare Part D, the end of the calendar year[3].
Medicine ships to your home or your prescriber’s office in a 1-to-4-month supply, with free shipping, and it cannot be picked up at a local pharmacy[3]. You can reapply up to 60 days before enrollment ends[3].
If you need Zepbound or Mounjaro
Neither is on the Lilly Cares list, so the routes are Lilly’s paid ones[2]. LillyDirect sells Zepbound vials and KwikPens from $299 to $449 a month when each refill lands within 45 days[5]. With a commercial plan that covers the single-dose pen, the Zepbound card can bring a fill down to $25[6].
The details are in Zepbound price and Zepbound savings card. On Medicare, the temporary GLP-1 Bridge is covered in does Medicare cover Zepbound. How the two tirzepatide brands differ is in Mounjaro vs Zepbound.
Compounded tirzepatide is not Zepbound and is not FDA-approved; each seller’s month is on the tirzepatide price board. The all-in monthly calculator adds the fees a headline leaves out, and the seller price check tests a quote you were given.
The Novo Nordisk counterpart
Novo Nordisk runs its own free-drug program with its own product list and income rules. How it treats Ozempic and Wegovy is in Novo Nordisk patient assistance program. If neither program fits, Trulicity’s self-pay price starts at $389 a month[7], and every maker’s cash price is compared in GLP-1 cost without insurance.
Before applying, ask your prescriber one thing: whether they will complete the prescriber section and send the prescription to Lilly Cares, since the application cannot move without it.