We now have the recently released September 2019 Medicare Part D prescription drug plan formulary (drug lists) data online and included in our Formulary Browser and Drug Finder. The September formulary updates include the addition of 43 new National Drug Codes (NDCs), representing 34 different prescription drugs, many with multiple strengths. The formulary updates impact both stand-alone Medicare Part D plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage (MAPDs).
Highlights of the September 2019 formulary updates include seven newly-added generic drugs: The September Medicare Part D drug data includes twenty generic medications, with seven (7) being newly-introduced generic drugs. These drugs include:
- BESER [Cutivate®],
- BOSENTAN [Tracleer®], and
- CINACALCET [Sensipar®],
- ERLOTINIB [Tarceva®],
- INSULIN LISPRO [Humalog KwikPen®],
- LOTEPREDNOL ETABONATE [Lotemax®], and
- PENICILLAMINE [Cuprimine®].
You can see our article "September 2019 Drug List Updates: Twenty (20) new generic drugs added to many Medicare Part D plan formularies" found at on this site for more about coverage for all of the new generics.
The September 2019 Formulary Update Includes Six Newly-Added Brand-Name Drugs: The September drug data also updates includes the introduction of six (6) newly introduced brand-name drugs, some with multiple strengths. These drugs include:
- DUOBRII®,
- LEXETTE®,
- MAYZENT®,
- RHOFADE®,
- VARIZIG®, and
- VYNDAQEL®.
Reminders about Medicare prescription drug plan formulary changes
(1) Medicare Part D plans (PDPs and MAPDs) can change their formulary or drug list during the year and may drop one of your formulary medication mid-year for specific Medicare-allowable reasons (such as a new generic drug is available), but there are steps you can take if your medication is no longer covered by your prescription drug plan.
(2) Your Medicare Part D plan will notify you if the plan drops a medication you are currently using.
Reminder: What is the NDC?
The NDC or National Drug Code is used to uniquely identify a particular drug, manufacturer, strength, and packaging combination. The NDC is often shown on your prescription bottle as an 11-digit code (see the charts below) or could be formatted as 00000-0000-00 where the first set of numbers identifies the drug manufacturer, the second set of number identifies the product and strength, and the third set of numbers identifies the packaging. You can read more on this site
There are many reasons for NDCs to be added to the Medicare Part D program, a summary for all 43 new NDCs is as follows:
| Reason for NDC Addition | Occurrences |
| New Delivery Form | 2 |
| New Drug | 17 |
| New Drug and Strength | 14 |
| New Manufacturer and Delivery Form | 1 |
| New Manufacturer and Strength | 4 |
| New Strength | 5 |
| Total New NDCs | 43 |
The following chart details the 43 new manufacturer / drug-strength / packaging combinations (NDCs) that were added to one or more Medicare Part D formularies in the most recent updates -- as you will notices, some drugs are only covered by a few Medicare plans.
You can click on the Drug Code (NDC) or Drug Name below to go to our on this site Drug Finder ( on this site) and see the details of how this drug is covered by all Medicare Part D plans (PDPs) in Florida (our example state). You can then change the state in our search form for details of drug coverage in your service area.
Our online Formulary Browser and Drug Finder
You can review any Medicare plan formulary using the on this site FormularyBrowser found at: FormularyBrowser.com or compare how any medication is covered on all Medicare plans in your Service Area using our Drug Finder found at on this site.