A Montana overview of physician-supervised GLP-1 treatment through Astra, including local access context and the cities we cover. Every statistic on this page links to its source.
30.5% of Montana adults have obesity (CDC BRFSS 2023) 3. In Billings, the state's largest city, CDC's place-level PLACES estimate for the same 2023 survey year puts it higher — 33.9% 4 — so Montana's biggest population center carries a heavier burden than the statewide number alone suggests.
Montana is also among the most rural states in the country: 44.7% of its population lives in non-metro areas (Census ACS 2024 5-year estimate, via the Rural Health Information Hub) 7. Statewide population is 1,137,233 in the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024 5; Billings itself is 121,483 6.
Montana Medicaid does not cover Wegovy, Zepbound, or Saxenda for weight loss. The current Montana Healthcare Programs Preferred Drug List (Medicaid fee-for-service PDL), effective July 2026, lists Ozempic, Trulicity, and Victoza as preferred agents and Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Bydureon BCISE, exenatide, and liraglutide as non-preferred under its "Diabetes: GLP-1/GIP and Combos" category (p.16) — all gated to the type-2-diabetes indication and requiring a documented trial of two preferred agents for six months each before a non-preferred agent is authorized 1.
A full-text search of the 33-page PDL returns zero mentions of Wegovy, Zepbound, or Saxenda, and no line item anywhere references an obesity or weight-loss indication for any GLP-1 or GIP agent 1. In practice: a Montana Medicaid enrollee can get semaglutide or tirzepatide covered only with a diabetes diagnosis, after that step-therapy trial — there is no Medicaid pathway to the obesity-indicated drugs. This reading comes from the PDL document itself rather than a quoted exclusion clause, so treat it as an accurate reading of the current list rather than a citable administrative rule 12.
Astra's price in Montana is the same as everywhere else we operate: compounded semaglutide from $68 per month and compounded tirzepatide from $118 per month on 12-month plans ($816 and $1,416 billed annually), the same price at every dose. There is no Montana-specific price, surcharge, or discount.
We are a telehealth provider, not a local clinic, so there is no Montana price list to compare against here. Verified local clinic pricing, with sources and checked dates, lives on the Billings page. For household context, Montana's median household income is $75,340 and roughly 8.8% of residents are uninsured (ACS 2024 1-year estimates) 9.
A licensed provider can generally establish a telehealth relationship and prescribe non-controlled medications like semaglutide or tirzepatide under the same standard of care as an in-person visit. Compounded versions are governed separately by FDA's Section 503A framework, which tightened nationwide after FDA declared the tirzepatide (December 2024) and semaglutide (February 2025) shortages resolved: a pharmacy may compound a copy only for an individual patient whose prescriber documents a clinically significant reason the approved product does not work for them.
TODO — Montana's specific telehealth-prescribing statute and State Board of Pharmacy compounding guidance have not been verified for this page. The shared federal 503A framing above is safe to state as-is; we are not asserting a Montana-specific rule or linking a board page until that research is done.
HRSA designates 137 Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas across Montana, covering 334,449 residents — roughly 29% of the state's population — with only 42.26% of primary-care need met statewide (KFF State Health Facts, sourced from HRSA HPSA data, as of December 31, 2025) 8.
In a state where 44.7% of residents live outside a metro area 7, that shortfall is a driving-distance problem before it is a clinical one, which is the specific gap a video visit closes.
Astra is licensed to serve patients in Montana, as part of all 50 states.
Astra treats patients in Montana through state-licensed physicians.
The Billings page carries city-specific obesity data, HPSA detail, and verified local clinic prices.
No. The July 2026 Montana Medicaid Preferred Drug List covers GLP-1/GIP medications only for type 2 diabetes, and only after a documented trial of two preferred agents for six months each. Wegovy, Zepbound, and Saxenda — the obesity-indicated versions — don't appear anywhere in the 33-page document.
No — and that's deliberate. Astra's price is the same nationally: $68/month for semaglutide and $118/month for tirzepatide, both on 12-month plans, in Montana exactly as everywhere else.
Generally no, for a telehealth visit with a licensed provider. Montana's specific telehealth-prescribing rule is still being verified for this page — check back for the confirmed citation.
Only under narrow federal conditions. Since the FDA declared both drugs' shortages resolved (tirzepatide December 2024, semaglutide February 2025), a compounding pharmacy may generally produce a copy of the FDA-approved product only for an individual patient whose prescriber documents a clinically significant reason the approved product won't work for them.
Yes. With 44.7% of Montanans living outside metro areas and 137 federally designated primary-care shortage areas covering roughly 29% of the state's population, telehealth is built for exactly this geography — care doesn't depend on driving distance to a clinic.
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Educational information, not medical advice. Treatment requires evaluation by a licensed physician.