The May 2014 Medicare Part D prescription drug data is now online and includes the addition of
285 national drug codes representing
170 different prescription medications, many with multiple strengths or delivery forms and impacts several hundred Medicare Part D prescription drug plan formularies. You will find these medications through our
Formulary Browser (you can view all drugs for a single plan) and
Drug Finder (you can view all plans for a single drug) tools.
Details of the May 2014 drug data changes are summarized in the
May formulary drug additions blog with links to illustrate the variation in coverage details offered by all Medicare Part D plans in a particular state. A summary of changes to the
Top 10 Medicare Drugs can also be found in our
Monthly Formulary Changes Articles.
As you may notice in the May
Top 10 Medicare Drugs trending chart, popular brand-name drugs such as Actos®, Diovan HCT®, Lexapro®, Lipitor®, Plavix®, and Seroquel® continue to see decreases in the number of Medicare Part D formularies that offer coverage for these brand-name drugs, while their generic equivalents continue to see increase formulary coverage.
What does an increase in formulary size mean to you? More coverage.
For instance, if you are enrolled in a
Blue Medicare HMO Standard plan in North Carolina and using the brand-name medication
Soriatane®, you will find that the generic Acitretin is now available (however, it is still listed on the formulary as a Specialty Tier 5 drug with a 33% co-insurance rate).
Please Note: the May 2014 data that we now have online still includes the formulary data for the recently sanctioned Capital Blue Cross SeniorBlue and SecureRx plans (read more about the sanctions here:
https://Q1News.com/337.html).
The May 2014 Medicare Part D formulary updates also included
54 new generic equivalents (manufacturer, drug, strength, and packaging combinations) that represent 22 new generic medications.
Most notably,
Esomeprazole Sodium, the generic for
Nexium® was added to 253 stand-alone prescription drug plan (PDP) and Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage (MAPD) plan formularies.
However, unlike the
decline in coverage that we saw last year for brand-name medications such as Lipitor® and Plavix® when their generics were introduced, the coverage for
Nexium increased slightly to include 211 plan formularies. You can click for a chart showing the trends in formulary coverage for the some of the most popular Medicare drugs and their generic equivalents.
What does the addition of more generics mean to you? Potential savings.
You may be able to save money by switching from a brand-name drug to a newly introduced generic medication – with your prescribers approval. For instance,
Esomeprazole Sodium (the Nexium® generic) is covered by many Medicare Part D plans as a Tier 2 Non-Preferred Generic as compared to a higher-costing brand-name medication. You can
click here to see how your Medicare drug plan is covering this medication.