The Cash pay is paying a health care provider or pharmacy directly for a visit or a medication, with no claim sent to a health plan. Federal rules call the same arrangement self-pay. BrightSide is cash pay. The treatment price includes the provider visit, and you only pay if a provider prescribes.
How does cash pay apply to GLP-1 treatment?
With cash pay, you see the price of a GLP-1 treatment before the visit, and no claim goes to an insurer. BrightSide sells both kinds of GLP-1 medication this way. Zepbound is an FDA-approved tirzepatide injection, and compounded tirzepatide is a compounded option filled by a pharmacy we name. The price of every plan is on our pricing page, shown per month and as the total billed up front, with the billing, refund, cancellation and shipping terms on the same page. Your visit, online or on video, is included in the treatment price. If a provider doesn't prescribe, you're not charged. Because no claim is filed, there is no prior authorization step between the prescription and the pharmacy. A provider still reviews your health history first and decides whether a prescription is appropriate, and which medication fits.
What does cash pay mean at the visit and at the pharmacy?
At the visit and at the pharmacy, cash pay means the provider and the pharmacy are paid by the patient, and two federal rules for self-pay patients come into play. The first is the good faith estimate. Health care providers and facilities have to give an uninsured or self-pay patient a good faith estimate of expected charges when care is scheduled or when the patient asks, and the rule defines the expected charge as the cash pay rate. The second is a privacy right. Under the HIPAA privacy rule, a covered provider has to agree when a patient asks it not to disclose information about an item or service to the patient's health plan, as long as the disclosure would be for payment or health care operations, is not otherwise required by law, and the patient has paid for the item or service in full.
What should a patient check?
Check the total, the term and what happens if you stop. A price quoted per month can be the monthly rate of a plan that is billed up front for several months, so look for the amount charged at checkout. Ask whether the provider visit, follow-up and shipping are included or billed separately. Ask what happens to the price when the dose changes. Read the refund and cancellation terms before you pay, and find out what you owe if a provider decides not to prescribe. Then ask which pharmacy fills the prescription, because the price covers a medication made or dispensed by a specific pharmacy. BrightSide's pricing page gives each plan's monthly rate and up-front total in one table, and our pharmacy network page covers how we choose pharmacies.
| Rule | What it says | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Good faith estimate | Providers and facilities give uninsured or self-pay patients an estimate of expected charges on scheduling or on request | 45 CFR 149.610 |
| Expected charge | For a self-pay patient, the cash pay rate, reflecting any discounts for such patients | 45 CFR 149.610 |
| Restriction on disclosure to a health plan | A covered provider has to agree to the request when the patient has paid in full | 45 CFR 164.522 |
Common questions
Is cash pay the same thing as self-pay?
Yes. Federal regulations use the phrase uninsured (or self-pay) individual. It covers a person with no coverage for an item or service, and a person who has coverage but does not seek to have a claim submitted. The same rule defines the expected charge for that person as the cash pay rate.
Do you pay BrightSide if the provider does not prescribe?
No. You only pay if a provider prescribes. Your visit, online or on video, is included in the treatment price, and if a provider doesn't prescribe, you're not charged. Plan prices and up-front totals are on the pricing page before you start a visit.
Related terms
- Telehealth visit (asynchronous visit): the visit that the treatment price includes.
- Compounded medication: one of the two kinds of GLP-1 medication sold on a cash pay basis.
- 503A compounding pharmacy: the kind of pharmacy that fills a compounded prescription.
Sources
- 45 CFR 149.610, Requirements for provision of good faith estimates of expected charges for uninsured (or self-pay) individuals: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2025-title45-vol2/xml/CFR-2025-title45-vol2-sec149-610.xml
- 45 CFR 164.522, Rights to request privacy protection for protected health information: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2025-title45-vol2/xml/CFR-2025-title45-vol2-sec164-522.xml
Compounded medications are not FDA approved. They are prescribed by a licensed clinician and filled by a licensed 503A pharmacy.
