We now have the recently released April 2020 Medicare Part D prescription drug plan formulary (drug lists) data online and included in our
Formulary Browser and
Drug Finder. The April formulary updates include the addition of
108 new
National Drug Codes (NDCs), representing
65 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 April 2020 Formulary update include thirty-four newly-added generic drugs:
The April Medicare Part D drug data includes 34 new generic medications, 26 of which are
newly-introduced generic drugs. These drugs include:
- AMPHETAMINE [Adzenys®],
- BUDESONIDE-FORMOTEROL [Symbicort®],
- CALCIPOTRIENE-BETAMETH [Taclonex Scalp®],
- DIAZEPAM [Diastat®],
- DOXEPIN HCL [Silenor®],
- ETONOGESTREL-EE [NuvaRing®],
- EUTHYROX,
- EVEROLIMUS [Afinitor®],
- HYDROCODONE ER [Zohydro®],
- DEXTROAMPHETAMINE [ProCentra®],
- ELURYNG [NuvaRing®],
- INSULIN ASPART [NovoLog PenFill®],
- INSULIN ASPART,
- INSULIN ASPART PROT-INSULN [NovoLog Mix 70/30®],
- ISOSORBIDE DINITRATE [Sorbitrate®],
- MESALAMINE [Apriso®],
- METHSCOPOLAMINE BROM [Pamine Forte®],
- METHSCOPOLAMINE BROM [Pamine®],
- NIKKI [Yaz®],
- PENICILLAMINE [Depen®],
- PENTAMIDINE [NebuPent®],
- PENTAMIDINE [Pentam®],
- SUCRALFATE [Carafate®],
- TRAVOPROST [Travatan®],
- TRIAMCINOLONE [Trianex®], and
- VERAPAMIL [Calan®].
You can see our article "April 2020 Drug List Updates: Thirty-four (34) new generic drugs added to many Medicare Part D plan formularies"
found at
https://Q1News.com/823.html for more about coverage the new generics.
The April 2020 Formulary update includes thirty-one (31) newly-added brand-name drugs:
The April drug data updates also include 31 new brand-name drugs, nine (9) of which are newly introduced brand-name drugs, some with multiple strengths. These drugs include:
- AMZEEQ®,
- AYVAKIT®,
- BINOSTO®,
- BRUKINSA®,
- OXBRYTA®,
- RYBELSUS®,
- SEYSARA®,
- UBRELVY®, and
- VUMERITY®.
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.
Reminder: What is the NDC?
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 here:
Q1FAQ.com/155
There are many reasons for NDCs to be added to the Medicare Part D program, a summary for all 108 new NDCs is as follows:
Reason for NDC Addition |
Occurrences |
New Delivery Form |
5 |
New Delivery Form and Strength |
6 |
New Drug |
28 |
New Drug and Strength |
39 |
New Manufacturer and Delivery Form |
1 |
New Manufacturer and Strength |
8 |
New Strength |
21 |
Total New NDCs |
108 |
The following chart details the 108 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 Code (NDC) or Drug Name below to go to our Q1Medicare.com Drug Finder (
Q1Rx.com) 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.