Calculator · weight loss
Weight-loss medication or surgery: the two costs over time
A medicine is paid for every month it is taken; a surgery package is paid once. This adds the first up month by month, sets it beside the second, and shows the month the running total reaches the package price. It compares prices, not treatments, and makes no claim about which is appropriate for anyone.
The calculator
This compares prices, not treatments. It sets what a medicine costs month after month beside what a surgery package costs once. It says nothing about what either does, who either is for, or which — if either — is appropriate for anyone: those are medical questions for a person and a clinician.
After 3 years
- Zepbound to 15 mg, running total
- $17,311
- Gastric sleeve typical package, paid once
- $11,000 – $16,500
The medicine’s running total reaches the low end of the range, $11,000 in month 23 (August 2028).
The medicine’s running total reaches the high end, $16,500 in month 35 (August 2029).
| Year | The medicine’s sum | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 × $299 + 1 × $399 + 11 × $449 = $5,637 | $5,637 |
| 2 | 13 × $449 = $5,837 | $11,474 |
| 3 | 13 × $449 = $5,837 | $17,311 |
| Gastric sleeve typical package, once | $11,000 – $16,500 | |
Where these numbers come from
- Zepbound price at each dose: Eli Lilly (lilly.com) (opens in a new tab), seen Oct 11, 2026
- The dose schedule: FDA-approved label for Zepbound (DailyMed) (opens in a new tab), label revised 8/2026; checked Oct 11, 2026
- Gastric sleeve typical self-pay package: an estimate from 8 programs’ published prices (each price and what it covers), computed Oct 12, 2026
The medicine’s total assumes it is taken for the whole period at today’s published prices, along the label’s schedule and then at 15 mg. A surgery package is not everything a person pays: what each program’s package covers and leaves out is on the operation’s page. This is arithmetic on published prices: an estimate, not a quote, and not advice about any treatment or dose. Prices change; each seller’s own page is the authority.
The prices behind it
Not medical advice. This page is about what things cost. Prices change: the newest here was seen on its source page on October 11, 2026.
What that means, and how we check prices
Not medical advice
This page is about what things cost. It does not say what anyone should take or have done; that is a decision for you and a licensed clinician. Statements from labels and agencies are quoted from the sources linked beside them and have not been clinically reviewed.
Prices change
Every price here is a published price as it was seen on its source page — the newest on October 11, 2026. Sellers change prices and end offers; the seller’s page is the authority.
How we check prices
Each price is read from the seller’s own page and checked against its source before it appears, with the unit it is quoted in and the conditions printed beside it. Published prices are re-checked monthly. How we estimate · How this site works