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May 2023 Formulary Changes to the Top Medicare Drugs

Category: Monthly Formulary Changes
Published: May, 21 2023 04:05:37
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The May 2023 Medicare Part D formulary updates included 49 new drug codes or NDCs representing 32 different medications.

The NDC uniquely identifies a particular manufacturer, drug-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 manufacturer, the second set of number identifies the drug and strength, and the third set of numbers identifies the packaging.

This article highlights the change for some of the "top Medicare drugs", including their generic equivalents.  The generics included are Atorvastatin [Lipitor®] , Clopidogrel [Plavix®], Escitalopram [Lexapro®], Esomeprazole Sodium [Nexium®], Pioglitazone [Actos®], Quetiapine Fumarate [Seroquel®], Risedronate Sodium [Actonel®], and Valsartan-HCTZ [Diovan HCT®]. 


The changes to the number of formularies covering these medications looks as follows:

Count of Formularies Covering the Top Medicare Drugs Program-wide
  Formulary Count*
Drug Name 2017 End** 2018 End** 2019 End** 2020 End** 2021 End** 2022 End** 2023
Start**
 May
ACTONEL 35 MG TABLET 11 13 8 11 3 3 2 2
ACTOS 30 MG TABLET 16 16 16 15 13 5 3 3
ADVAIR DISKUS MIS 250/50 371 370 361 312 289 349 314 316
ATORVASTATIN 10 MG TABLET [Lipitor] 389 394 406 454 456 458 452 450
CLOPIDOGREL 75 MG TABLET [Plavix] 389 394 406 454 456 458 452 450
DIOVAN HCT 160/12.5MG TABLET 21 54 17 18 13 5 3 3
ESCITALOPRAM 10 MG TABLET [Lexapro] 389 394 406 454 456 458 452 450
ESOMEPRAZOLE MAG DR 40 MG CAP [Nexium] 305 315 309 353 376 419 416 414
LANTUS 100U/ML VIAL 382 309 306 364 363 362 393 392
LEXAPRO 10MG TABLET 12 21 14 12 13 5 4 4
LIPITOR 10MG TABLET 20 21 19 16 11 3 3 3
NEXIUM DR 40 MG CAPSULE 33 19 19 10 11 3 3 3
PIOGLITAZONE HCL 30 MG TABLET [Actos] 389 394 406 454 456 458 452 450
PLAVIX 75 MG TABLET 13 16 75 10 11 3 3 3
QUETIAPINE FUMARATE 25 MG TAB [Seroquel] 389 394 406 454 456 458 452 450
RISEDRONATE SODIUM 35 MG TAB [Actonel] 239 249 287 335 360 368 351 355
SEROQUEL 25MG TABLET 12 14 9 10 11 3 3 3
VALSARTAN-HCTZ 160-12.5 MG TABLET [Diovan HCT] 382 391 403 451 451 454 450 448




*The number of formularies counts the unique formularies that offer this medication. As a note, the same formulary can be used by one or many different Medicare Part D plans. The same formulary can be used by both stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDP) and Medicare Advantage plans (MAPD).

**The ending CMS formulary datasets are the respective September dataset. The starting 2023 CMS formulary dataset is dated October, 2022.

Learn more in our article: How a mid-year formulary change can affect your Medicare Part D drug coverage.

You can review any Medicare plan formulary using the Q1Medicare.com FormularyBrowser at FormularyBrowser.com or compare how any medication is covered on all Medicare plans in your service area using our Q1Rx.com.

Additional Formulary Drug Change Articles:

Medicare Part D Plan Formulary (Drug Lists) Updates:
May 2023, April 2023, March 2023, February 2023, August 2022, June 2022, May 2022, April 2022, March 2022, February 2022, August 2021, June 2021, May 2021, April 2021, September 2020, August 2020, June 2020, May 2020, April 2020, March 2020, September 2019, July 2019, June 2019, May 2019, April 2019, March 2019, August 2018, July 2018, June 2018, May 2018, April 2018, August 2017, July 2017, May 2017, April 2017, August 2016, July 2016, June 2016, April 2016, March 2016, October 2015, August 2015, July 2015, May 2015, April 2015, August 2014, May 2014, August 2013, June 2013, May 2013, April 2013, October 2012, August 2012, July 2012, June 2012

Formulary Changes to the Top Medicare Drugs:
May 2023, August 2022, September 2021, September 2020, April 2020, September 2019, April 2019, August 2018, April 2018, August 2017, April 2017, August 2016, April 2016, October 2015, April 2015, August 2014, August 2013, April 2013

New Generic Equivalents Added to Formularies:
February 2023, August 2021, June 2021, May 2021, April 2021, September 2020, August 2020, June 2020, May 2020, April 2020, March 2020, September 2019, July 2019, June 2019, May 2019, April 2019, March 2019, August 2018, July 2018, April 2018, August 2017, July 2017, April 2017, March & April 2016, April & May 2015, August 2014, May 2014


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