The NDC uniquely identifies 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 manufacturer, the second set of number identifies the product and strength, and the third set of numbers identifies the packaging.
There are many reasons for NDCs to be added to the Medicare Part D program, a summary is a follows:
| Reason for NDC Addition | Occurrences |
| new drug | 3 |
| new drug/strength | 10 |
| new manufacturer/form | 3 |
| new manufacturer/drug/strength | 4 |
The majority of the 10 new NDCs included new drug strengths and in some cases manufacturers. Three new generic alternatives were introduced:
- ESCITALOPRAM generic equivalent for Lexapro® is on 65 PDP and 214 MAPD formularies
- IBANDRONATE SODIUM generic equivalent for Boniva® is on 55 PDP and 170 MAPD formularies
- ZIPRASIDONE HCL generic equivalent for Geodon® is on 70 PDP and 238 MAPD formularies
In addition to the above major additions and deletions, individual Medicare Part D plan formularies may have added and/or dropped medications, changed drug tiers, and changed drug usage management requirements. You can review any Medicare plan formulary using the on this site FormularyBrowser at on this site.
Changes to the Top Medicare Drugs: