Consumer telehealth · Cash-pay care marketplace
Sesame
Sesame is a cash-pay healthcare marketplace with posted prices for telehealth and in-person visits, labs, and related services. It is not an employer-contracted obesity clinic platform.
Strong fit
- Cash-pay patients who want clear visit, lab, and prescription prices without dealing with insurance
- People comparing cash-pay telehealth and in-person visits for primary and specialty care
- Buyers looking at GLP-1 and routine care through a marketplace with posted prices rather than one clinic brand
Weak fit
- Patients who must stay in-network on employer insurance and cannot pay cash
- Employers that need a contracted obesity program tied to their pharmacy benefit manager, such as Calibrate
- Buyers looking for an EHR for providers rather than a consumer marketplace
Bottom line
Sesame is worth considering for patients who want to pay cash for visits, labs, imaging, and prescriptions at posted prices. It suits shoppers comparing cash-pay paths who will check the clinician they pick. Patients wanting ongoing obesity care through their benefits may prefer Form Health or Calibrate.
Score breakdown
Weights: Outcomes 35% · Product 30% · Implementation 20% · Pricing clarity 15%.
Sesame is a cash-pay healthcare marketplace in New York led by co-founder and CEO David Goldhill, with fewer than 100 employees.
Patients browse posted prices for telehealth and in-person visits, labs, imaging, prescriptions, and related services instead of filing insurance claims for those visits.
It is a consumer marketplace, not a health system EHR or an obesity clinic under employer contract.
Because it is a marketplace rather than one closed obesity program, we compare it with other cash-pay options such as Found or GobyMeds.
Quality varies with the clinician a patient chooses, and that is the main caveat.
Its prices are clear, but we have less confidence in it than in closely managed obesity programs like Form Health, because ongoing care depends on the clinician.
Form Health or Calibrate suit long-term obesity care tied to benefits. GobyMeds or Henry Meds suit patients who only want cash-pay GLP-1 access.
Competitor landscape
| Vendor | Overall | Ease of use |
|---|---|---|
| Form Health | 7.5 | 7.3 |
| Found | 7.4 | 7.2 |
| Calibrate | 7.3 | 7.1 |
| Eden | 7.3 | 7.2 |
| Fridays | 7.1 | 7.0 |
| Mochi Health | 7.0 | 6.6 |
| Nu Image Medical | 6.8 | 6.5 |
| Sesame | 6.8 | 6.7 |
| Henry Meds | 6.7 | 6.3 |
| GobyMeds | 6.6 | 6.5 |
Pricing
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model | A cash-pay marketplace with posted prices for visits, labs, and services. Memberships may apply, and medication is priced separately. |
| What usually drives cost | Visit type, clinician, labs and imaging, medications, and any membership level. |
| What to ask before you buy | Total cash price for the visit plus expected medication cost for your clinical need. |
| Published pricing | Visit and service prices are posted on sesamecare.com. Medication prices vary by pharmacy. |
Prerequisites for purchase
| Need | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What you need to get Sesame to function | |
| Cash-pay expectation set with the patient | Patients who expect insurance to pay often drop off. |
| Clinical need matched to marketplace visit type | Wrong visit type wastes money. |
| A clear plan for getting medication before booking | A visit with no way to fill the prescription frustrates patients. |
| Lab and imaging follow-up plan | Results without a plan stall care. |
| Receipts and HSA records saved | Reimbursement fails without records. |
| What will maximize your value | |
| Compare posted prices before booking | Booking on impulse misses the point of posted prices. |
| Confirm the clinician is licensed in your state | Cross-state gaps cancel visits. |
| Track total cash spent, including medication | Visit price alone misleads. |
| Deal-breakers | |
| You must use in-network insurance only | |
| You need an employer obesity program contract | |
| You need an EHR for providers | |
Value creation time frame
| # | Stage | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Browse and book | same day to 1 week |
| 2 | Complete visit and follow-ups | 1-3 weeks |
| 3 | Ongoing medication | ongoing |
Leadership
Methodology
| Weight | Factor | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 35% | Customer outcomes | Whether buyers get measurable operational or clinical-workflow results after go-live |
| 30% | Product | Capability depth, reliability, and fit for the job the category buys |
| 20% | Implementation | How hard it is to stand up, integrate, train, and stabilize |
| 15% | Pricing clarity | Whether a buyer can model total cost without a mystery quote |
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Highly recommend | Strong outcomes and product with manageable caveats |
| Recommend | Solid fit for the right buyer; know the tradeoffs |
| Conditional | Only with a specific use case or heavy caveats |
| Not recommended | Avoid for most buyers in this category |
Read our full methodology for how we weight scores and assign recommend labels.