The April 2020 Medicare Part D plan formulary (or drug list) updates included 108 new drug codes or NDCs representing 65 different medications, including 34 new generics.
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®], Risedronate Sodium [Actonel®], Quetiapine Fumarate [Seroquel®], and Valsartan-HCTZ [Diovan HCT®].
The changes to the number of formularies covering these medications looks as follows:
Count of 2020 Formularies Covering the Top Medicare Drugs Program-wide | ||||||||||||
Formulary Count* | ||||||||||||
Drug Name | 2015 End** | 2016 End** | 2017 End** | 2018 End** | 2019 End** | 2020 Start** |
April | May | June | July | Aug. | Sep. |
ACTONEL 35 MG TABLET | 148 | 25 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 11 | |||||
ACTOS 30 MG TABLET | 35 | 23 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | |||||
ADVAIR DISKUS MIS 250/50 | 353 | 348 | 371 | 370 | 361 | 310 | 294 | |||||
ATORVASTATIN 10 MG TABLET [Lipitor] | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 406 | 454 | 445 | |||||
CLOPIDOGREL 75 MG TABLET [Plavix] | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 406 | 454 | 445 | |||||
DIOVAN HCT 160/12.5MG TABLET | 50 | 29 | 21 | 54 | 17 | 18 | 18 | |||||
ESCITALOPRAM 10 MG TABLET [Lexapro] | 385 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 406 | 454 | 445 | |||||
ESOMEPRAZOLE MAG DR 40 MG CAP [Nexium] | 285 | 302 | 305 | 315 | 309 | 352 | 341 | |||||
LANTUS 100U/ML VIAL | 382 | 371 | 382 | 309 | 306 | 363 | 356 | |||||
LEXAPRO 10MG TABLET | 45 | 26 | 12 | 21 | 14 | 12 | 12 | |||||
LIPITOR 10MG TABLET | 30 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 16 | |||||
NEXIUM DR 40 MG CAPSULE | 206 | 98 | 33 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 10 | |||||
PIOGLITAZONE HCL 30 MG TABLET [Actos] | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 406 | 454 | 445 | |||||
PLAVIX 75 MG TABLET | 34 | 20 | 13 | 16 | 75 | 10 | 10 | |||||
QUETIAPINE FUMARATE 25 MG TAB [Seroquel] | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 406 | 454 | 445 | |||||
RISEDRONATE SODIUM 35 MG TAB [Actonel] | 220 | 246 | 239 | 249 | 287 | 337 | 328 | |||||
SEROQUEL 25MG TABLET | 43 | 26 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |||||
VALSARTAN-HCTZ 160-12.5 MG TABLET [Diovan HCT] | 388 | 376 | 382 | 391 | 403 | 451 | 442 |