March 2016 saw the addition of 42 new generic equivalents (NDCs) and in the April 2016 Medicare Part D plan formulary data (or drug lists) updates an additional three (3) generic equivalents (NDCs) were added. The three April additions are highlighted in the chart below in bold. As a note, the May 2016 Medicare Part D plan formulary data
included no new drug codes and only minor additions and deletions from
plan formularies.
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.
The following 45 manufacturer / drug / strength / packaging combinations (NDCs) were added to one or more Medicare Part D formularies in the recent updates. You can click on the NDC or Drug Name below to go to our Q1Medicare.com DrugFinder to see the details of how this drug is handled by all Medicare Part D Plans in Florida -- You can then change the state to your state for details in your service area.
What Could the Addition of New Generic Drugs Mean to You?
- You may be able to save money by switching
from the brand-name drug to its generic equivalent – with your prescriber’s
approval and a new prescription. Please note, you will need to look
carefully at coverage costs as we have found that many 2016 generics are being
offered on the same tier as their brand-name equivalent or the generics do not
have a significantly lower retail price. For example,
the brand-name Targretin
(75 mg) may have a retail cost of around $7,464 as a Tier 5 drug (30%
co-insurance) and the same plan may now cover the generic equivalent BEXAROTENE
75 MG also as a Tier 5 drug (30% co-insurance) with a retail price of
around $6,607. You can click
here to see how your Medicare drug plan is covering these medication.
- Your brand name drug may no longer be
available if a generic is now available. From past experience, we
expect to find that many Medicare Part D plans may discontinue coverage of
brand-name drugs over the next few months when generic drug equivalents are
introduced. For example, the brand-name drug
PrandiMet has already been removed from all 2016 Medicare Part D formularies
and replaced with the generic REPAGLINIDE-METFORMIN.
If you have received notice from your Medicare Part D plan
that your brand-name medication will be dropped, you should speak with your
prescriber to determine if you can take the generic equivalent or if you will
need to ask your plan for a formulary
exception to continue coverage for the brand-name
drug. You can click for a chart
showing the trends in formulary coverage for some of the most popular
Medicare drugs and their generic equivalents.
You can review any Medicare plan formulary using the Q1Medicare.com FormularyBrowser at
Q1Medicare.com/FormularyBrowser or compare how any medication is covered on all Medicare plans in your service area using our
Q1Medicare.com/DrugFinder.