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May 2013 Formulary Changes to the Top 10 Medicare Drugs

Category: Monthly Formulary Changes
Published: May, 28 2013 04:05:27


The most recent (May 2013) Medicare Part D plan formulary data (or drug lists) updates included 131 new drug codes. These represent new drugs, strengths, packaging, and/or manufactures. As to the top 10 Medicare Part D drugs, VALSARTAN-HCTZ 160-12.5 MG TAB has been added (generic for Diovan HCT®)
.
We have chosen to include Altorvastatin, Clopidogrel, Escitalopram, Pioglitazone, Quetiapine Fumarate and Valsartan-HCTZ to the list of Top 10 Medicare Drugs, so our list actually includes 16 drugs -- Lipitor® with it’s generic equivalent Atorvastatin and Escitalopram for Lexapro®, Clopidogrel for Plavix®, Pioglitazone for Actos®, Quetiapine Fumarate generic equivalent for Seroquel® and now Valsartan-HCTZ for Diovan HCT®). 

The changes to the number of formularies covering these medications looks as follows:

Count of 2013 Formularies covering the Top 10 Medicare Drugs Program wide
    Formulary Count*
NDC Drug Name 2012 Start** 2012 End** 2013 Start*** Jan. April May June July Aug.
00430047203 ACTONEL 35 MG 36 DOSE PACK 0 218 229 227 214  233      
64764030116 ACTOS 30MG TABLET (500 CT) 286 283 312 313 1      
64764030115 ACTOS 30MG/1 TABLET (90 CT)         292 269       
00173069600 ADVAIR DISKUS MIS 250/50 249 276 300 301 282  306      
63304082790 ATORVASTATIN 10 MG TABLET [Lipitor] 0 280 312 313 294  317      
00378362777 CLOPIDOGREL TAB 75MG [Plavix] 0 272 299 300 293 316       
00078031534 DIOVAN HCT 160/12.5MG TABLET 276 274 232 234 228 201       
00093585101 ESCITALOPRAM 10 MG TABLET [Lexapro] 0 262 297 298 293 316       
00088222033 LANTUS 100U/ML VIAL 284 280 306 307 287 310       
00456201001 LEXAPRO 10MG TABLET 237 156 92 91 79  92      
00071015523 LIPITOR 10MG TABLET 225 138 67 66 65  68      
00186504054 NEXIUM 40MG CAPSULE 199 196 182 180 182 195       
00378022893 PIOGLITAZONE HCL 30 MG TABLET         266  307      
63653117105 PLAVIX 75MG TABLET 287 258 114 112 103 115       
47335090288 QUETIAPINE FUMARATE 25 MG TAB [SEROQUEL] 0 271 292 293 286 309       
00310027510 SEROQUEL 25MG TABLET 282 198 116 114 103 117       
00378632205 VALSARTAN-HCTZ 160-12.5 MG TAB           294       

*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

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.






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