August 2014 Formulary Changes to the Top 10 Medicare Drugs

The most recent (August 2014) Medicare Part D plan formulary data (or drug lists) updates included 87 new drug codes. See August 2014 Summary of the Most Recent Updates for the Medicare Part D Plan Formularies (Drug Lists) for details.

Although this blog is about the top 10 Medicare drugs, we include some of the newer generic equivalents to the list, thus bringing our list to include 17 drugs. The generics included are Atorvastatin [Lipitor®] , Clopidogrel [Plavix®], Escitalopram [Lexapro®], Esomeprazole Sodium [Nexium®], Pioglitazone [Actos®], Quetiapine Fumarate [Seroquel®], and Valsartan-HCTZ[Diovan HCT®].

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

Count of 2014 Formularies covering the Top 10 Medicare Drugs Program wide
Formulary Count*
NDC	Drug Name	2013 Start**	2013 End**	2014 Start**	Jan	Mar	May	June	Aug.	Sep.
00430047203	ACTONEL 35 MG 36 DOSE PACK	229	233	238	239	247	252	252	237
64764030116	ACTOS 30MG TABLET (500 CT)	312	1
64764030115	ACTOS 30MG/1 TABLET (90 CT)	214	71	74	73	75	75	71
00173069600	ADVAIR DISKUS MIS 250/50	300	307	330	329	343	350	350	336
63304082790	ATORVASTATIN 10 MG TABLET [Lipitor]	312	316	340	341	358	367	367	352
00378362777	CLOPIDOGREL TAB 75MG [Plavix]	299	315	340	341	358	367	367	352
00078031534	DIOVAN HCT 160/12.5MG TABLET	232	185	78	78	78	80	80	78
00093585101	ESCITALOPRAM 10 MG TABLET [Lexapro]	297	315	339	340	357	366	366	351
47335050944	ESOMEPRAZOLE SODIUM 40 MG VIAL [Nexium]	253	253	246
00088222033	LANTUS 100U/ML VIAL	306	309	325	326	343	352	352	337
00456201001	LEXAPRO 10MG TABLET	92	92	54	54	53	55	55	53
00071015523	LIPITOR 10MG TABLET	67	68	42	42	41	43	43	43
00186504054	NEXIUM 40MG CAPSULE	182	198	198	200	205	211	211	206
00378022893	PIOGLITAZONE HCL 30 MG TABLET [Actos]	310	340	341	358	367	367	352
63653117105	PLAVIX 75MG TABLET	114	109	48	48	47	48	48	46
47335090288	QUETIAPINE FUMARATE 25 MG TAB [SEROQUEL]	292	316	339	340	357	367	367	352
00310027510	SEROQUEL 25MG TABLET	116	112	54	54	53	54	54	51
00378632205	VALSARTAN-HCTZ 160-12.5 MG TAB [Diovan HCT]	297	319	320	337	346	346	331

*The formulary counts include both stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDP) and Medicare Advantage plans (MAPD) in all states and the U.S. territories.
**Initial (start) 2013 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2012, ending 2013 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2013.
**Initial (start) 2014 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2013.

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