May 2014 Formulary Changes to the Top 10 Medicare Drugs

The most recent (May 2014) Medicare Part D plan formulary data (or drug lists) updates included 170 new drug codes. See May 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	2012 Start**	2012 End**	2013 Start**	2013 End**	May	June	July	Aug.	Sep.
00430047203	ACTONEL 35 MG 36 DOSE PACK	0	218	229	233	252
64764030116	ACTOS 30MG TABLET (500 CT)	286	283	312	1	0
64764030115	ACTOS 30MG/1 TABLET (90 CT)	214	75
00173069600	ADVAIR DISKUS MIS 250/50	249	276	300	307	350
63304082790	ATORVASTATIN 10 MG TABLET [Lipitor]	0	280	312	316	367
00378362777	CLOPIDOGREL TAB 75MG [Plavix]	0	272	299	315	367
00078031534	DIOVAN HCT 160/12.5MG TABLET	276	274	232	185	80
00093585101	ESCITALOPRAM 10 MG TABLET [Lexapro]	0	262	297	315	366
47335050944	ESOMEPRAZOLE SODIUM 40 MG VIAL [Nexium]	253
00088222033	LANTUS 100U/ML VIAL	284	280	306	309	352
00456201001	LEXAPRO 10MG TABLET	237	156	92	92	55
00071015523	LIPITOR 10MG TABLET	225	138	67	68	43
00186504054	NEXIUM 40MG CAPSULE	199	196	182	198	211
00378022893	PIOGLITAZONE HCL 30 MG TABLET [Actos]	310	367
63653117105	PLAVIX 75MG TABLET	287	258	114	109	48
47335090288	QUETIAPINE FUMARATE 25 MG TAB [SEROQUEL]	0	271	292	316	367
00310027510	SEROQUEL 25MG TABLET	282	198	116	112	54
00378632205	VALSARTAN-HCTZ 160-12.5 MG TAB [Diovan HCT]	297	346

*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) 2012 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2011. The ending 2012 CMS formulary dataset dated September, 2012.
Initial 2013 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2012, ending 2013 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2013.

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