The May formulary updates include the addition of 40 new National Drug Codes (NDCs), representing 28 different prescription drugs, many with multiple strengths.
The formulary updates impact both stand-alone Medicare Part D plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage (MAPDs).
Highlights of the May 2021 Formulary update include six (6) newly-added brand-name drugs
The May drug data updates include 13 new brand-name drugs, six (6) of which are newly introduced brand-name drugs, some with multiple strengths. These drugs include:
- BRONCHITOL®,
- KLISYRI®,
- LUPKYNIS®,
- TEMIXYS®,
- TEPMETKO®, and
- VERQUVO®.
The May 2021 Formulary update includes nine (9) newly-added generic drugs
The May Medicare Part D drug data also includes 15 new generic medications, nine (9) of which are newly-introduced generic drugs. These new generic drugs include:
- DISULFIRAM [Antabuse®],
- FLUTAMIDE [Eulexin®],
- LUBIPROSTONE [Amitiza®],
- LYLLANA [Vivelle-Dot®],
- MELOXICAM [Vivlodex®],
- NYMYO [VyLibra®],
- PROCTO-MED HC [Proctozone-HC®],
- TRI-NYMYO [Trinessa®], and
- TYDEMY [Tydemy®].
You can see our article "May 2021 Drug List Updates: Fifteen (15) new generic drugs added to many Medicare Part D plan formularies." found at on this site for more about coverage the new generics.
Please note that these new generic and brand-name drugs are not available on all Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage drug plans - and you can review the chart to see the (often limited) number of plan formularies that now include these drugs.
Reminders about Medicare prescription drug plan formulary changes
- Medicare Part D plans (PDPs and MAPDs) can change their formulary or drug list during the year and may drop one of your formulary medication mid-year for specific Medicare-allowable reasons (such as a new generic drug is available), but there are steps you can take if your medication is no longer covered by your prescription drug plan.
- Your Medicare Part D plan
will notify you if the plan drops a medication you are currently using.
The NDC or National Drug Code is used to uniquely identify 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 drug manufacturer, the second set of number identifies the product and strength, and the third set of numbers identifies the packaging. You can read more on this site
Summary of May 2021 NDC changes
There are many reasons for NDCs to be added to the Medicare Part D program, a summary for all 40 new May 2021 NDCs is as follows:
| Reason for NDC Addition | Occurrences |
| New Drug | 15 |
| New Drug and Strength | 16 |
| New Manufacturer | 1 |
| New Manufacturer and Delivery Form | 1 |
| New Manufacturer and Strength | 2 |
| New Manufacturer, Strength and Delivery Form | 2 |
| New Packaging | 1 |
| New Strength | 2 |
| Grand Total | 40 |
The following chart details the 40 new manufacturer / drug-strength / packaging combinations (NDCs) that were added to one or more Medicare Part D formularies in the most recent updates -- as you will notices, some drugs are only covered by a few Medicare plans.
You can click on the Drug Name below to go to our on this site Drug Finder ( on this site) and see the details of how this drug is covered by all Medicare Part D plans (PDPs) in Florida (our example state). You can then change the state in our search form for details of drug coverage in your service area.
| NDC | Drug Name | Number of PDP Formularies* |
Number of MAPD Formularies* |
Notes |
| 10122021256 | BRONCHITOL 40 MG INHALE CAPSULE W/DEV | 6 | 65 | New Drug |
| 00025281831 | CALAN SR 180 MG TABLET | 0 | 3 | New Strength |
| 00054035725 | DISULFIRAM 500 MG TABLET [Antabuse] | 64 | 365 | New Drug |
| 69238209203 | EMTRICITABINE-TENOFV 100-150MG TABLET [Truvada] | 68 | 395 | New Drug and Strength |
| 69238209303 | EMTRICITABINE-TENOFV 133-200MG TABLET [Truvada] | 68 | 395 | New Drug and Strength |
| 69238209403 | EMTRICITABINE-TENOFV 167-250MG TABLET [Truvada] | 68 | 395 | New Drug and Strength |
| 00093770456 | EMTRICITABINE-TENOFV 200-300MG TABLET [Truvada] | 68 | 395 | New Drug and Strength |
| 49884075313 | FLUTAMIDE 125 MG CAPSULE [Eulexin] | 68 | 398 | New Drug |
| 16110039105 | KLISYRI 1% OINTMENT PACKET | 1 | 29 | New Drug |
| 17478083005 | LOTEPREDNOL 0.5% OPHTHALMC GEL DROPS [Lotemax] | 9 | 190 | New Manufacturer |
| 00254302902 | LUBIPROSTONE 24 MCG CAPSULE [Amitiza] | 18 | 166 | New Drug and Strength |
| 00254302802 | LUBIPROSTONE 8 MCG CAPSULE [Amitiza] | 18 | 166 | New Drug and Strength |
| 75626000102 | LUPKYNIS 7.9 MG CAPSULE | 7 | 69 | New Drug |
| 65162012608 | LYLLANA 0.025 MG PATCH TDSW [Vivelle-Dot] | 39 | 305 | New Drug and Strength |
| 65162014808 | LYLLANA 0.0375 MG PATCH TDSW [Vivelle-Dot] | 39 | 305 | New Drug and Strength |
| 65162015008 | LYLLANA 0.075 MG PATCH TDSW [Vivelle-Dot] | 39 | 305 | New Drug and Strength |
| 65162014908 | LYLLANA 0.05 MG PATCH TDSW [Vivelle-Dot] | 39 | 305 | New Drug and Strength |
| 65162022808 | LYLLANA 0.1 MG PATCH TDSW [Vivelle-Dot] | 39 | 305 | New Drug and Strength |
| 00078097912 | MAYZENT 0.25 MG STARTER PACK TABLET DS PK | 20 | 224 | New Packaging |
| 68180018906 | MELOXICAM 10 MG CAPSULE [Vivlodex] | 0 | 8 | New Drug and Strength |
| 68180018806 | MELOXICAM 5 MG CAPSULE [Vivlodex] | 0 | 8 | New Drug and Strength |
| 16714085303 | METOPROLOL SUCC ER 50 MG TABLET ER 24H [Toprol XL] | 68 | 398 | New Manufacturer and Strength |
| 67877067001 | MORPHINE SULFATE IR 15 MG TABLET [MSIR] | 68 | 398 | New Manufacturer, Strength and Delivery Form |
| 67877067101 | MORPHINE SULFATE IR 30 MG TABLET [MSIR] | 68 | 398 | New Manufacturer, Strength and Delivery Form |
| 51862064506 | NYMYO 0.25-0.035 MG (28) TABLET [VyLibra] | 51 | 323 | New Drug |
| 70370302502 | ONGENTYS 25 MG CAPSULE | 2 | 51 | New Strength |
| 00126027216 | PERIOGARD 0.12% ORAL RINSE MOUTHWASH [Perisol] | 62 | 377 | New Drug |
| 69315031228 | PROCTO-MED HC 2.5% CREAM CRM/PE APP [Proctozone-HC] | 65 | 384 | New Drug |
| 71403000330 | RHOFADE 1% CREAM (G) | 0 | 5 | New Drug |
| 69102010501 | ROWEEPRA 500 MG TABLET | 63 | 309 | New Drug |
| 72606000201 | TEMIXYS 300-300 MG TABLET | 68 | 393 | New Drug |
| 10337016360 | TEMOVATE 0.05% CREAM (G) | 0 | 6 | New Drug |
| 44087500006 | TEPMETKO 225 MG TABLET | 68 | 389 | New Drug |
| 13668033101 | TRAZODONE 100 MG TABLET [Desyrel] | 68 | 398 | New Manufacturer and Strength |
| 51862064606 | TRI-NYMYO 28 TABLET [Trinessa] | 60 | 339 | New Drug |
| 68180090471 | TYDEMY 3-0.03-0.451 MG TABLET [Tydemy] | 20 | 135 | New Drug |
| 00006503001 | VERQUVO 10 MG TABLET | 4 | 34 | New Drug and Strength |
| 00006502802 | VERQUVO 2.5 MG TABLET | 4 | 34 | New Drug and Strength |
| 00006502902 | VERQUVO 5 MG TABLET | 4 | 34 | New Drug and Strength |
| 00069102902 | XELJANZ 1 MG/ML SOLUTION | 50 | 345 | New Manufacturer and Delivery Form |
You can review any Medicare plan formulary using the on this site Formulary Browser found at: FormularyBrowser.com or compare how any medication is covered on all Medicare plans in your Service Area using our Drug Finder found at on this site.