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 2019 Formularies Covering the Top Medicare Drugs Program-wide | |||||||||||
| Formulary Count* | |||||||||||
| Drug Name | 2014 End** | 2015 End** | 2016 End** | 2017 End** | 2018 End** | 2019 Start** |
April | May | June | July | Aug. |
| ACTONEL 35 MG 36 DOSE PACK | 248 | 148 | 25 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
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| ACTOS 30MG TABLET | 75 | 35 | 23 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 17 |
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| ADVAIR DISKUS MIS 250/50 | 347 | 353 | 348 | 371 | 370 | 393 | 386 | 378 |
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| ATORVASTATIN 10 MG TABLET [Lipitor] | 364 | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 415 | 407 | 410 |
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| CLOPIDOGREL TAB 75MG [Plavix] | 364 | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 415 | 407 | 410 |
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| DIOVAN HCT 160/12.5MG TABLET | 80 | 50 | 29 | 21 | 54 | 19 | 17 | 18 |
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| ESCITALOPRAM 10 MG TABLET [Lexapro] | 363 | 385 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 415 | 407 | 410 |
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| ESOMEPRAZOLE SODIUM 40 MG VIAL [Nexium] | 253 | 285 | 302 | 305 | 315 | 299 | 300 | 309 |
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| LANTUS 100U/ML VIAL | 350 | 382 | 371 | 382 | 309 | 315 | 307 | 310 |
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| LEXAPRO 10MG TABLET | 55 | 45 | 26 | 12 | 21 | 16 | 14 | 15 |
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| LIPITOR 10MG TABLET | 43 | 30 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 20 |
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| NEXIUM 40MG CAPSULE | 211 | 206 | 98 | 33 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 |
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| PIOGLITAZONE HCL 30 MG TABLET [Actos] | 364 | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 415 | 407 | 410 |
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| PLAVIX 75MG TABLET | 48 | 34 | 20 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
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| QUETIAPINE FUMARATE 25 MG TAB [SEROQUEL] | 364 | 394 | 385 | 389 | 394 | 415 | 407 | 410 |
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| RISEDRONATE SODIUM 35 MG TABLET [Actonel] | 220 | 246 | 239 | 249 | 289 | 288 | 290 |
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| SEROQUEL 25MG TABLET | 54 | 43 | 26 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
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| VALSARTAN-HCTZ 160-12.5 MG TAB [Diovan HCT] | 343 | 388 | 376 | 382 | 391 | 412 | 404 | 407 |
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*The number of formularies counts the unique formularies that offer this medication. As a note, the same formulary can be used by one or many different Medicare Part D plans. The same formulary can be used by both stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDP) and Medicare Advantage plans (MAPD).
**Ending 2014 CMS formulary dataset dated September, 2014. Ending 2015 CMS formulary dataset dated September, 2015. Ending 2016 CMS formulary dataset dated September, 2016. Ending 2017 CMS formulary dataset dated September, 2017. Ending 2018 CMS formulary dataset dated September, 2018. Starting 2019 CMS formulary dataset dated October, 2018 (version 2).
You can review any Medicare plan formulary using the on this site FormularyBrowser at FormularyBrowser.com or compare how any medication is covered on all Medicare plans in your service area using our on this site.