New List of Covered Medications Takes Effect January 1

Effective January 1, 2017, Express Scripts, the Health Plan’s prescription drug benefit manager, has revised its list of covered medications. The list, called the National Preferred Formulary, affects which medications will be covered under the Health Plan and how much you pay out of pocket for prescriptions.

Certain medications may be excluded from the formulary when clinically equivalent alternatives are available and offer significant cost savings. In some cases, medications that were not covered previously will be covered in the coming year. If you currently take a maintenance medication, be sure to check the updated formulary to see if the status of your medication has changed.

The list is available at www.express-scripts.com/art/pdf/Preferred_Drug_List_Exclusions2017.pdf.

If you are currently taking a medication that is excluded from the updated list, Express Scripts should have already notified you by mail, so that you can work with your doctor to find a covered alternative that is proven to be as effective as the excluded medication.

For information on whether any of your current prescriptions will be affected by this change, please log on to your Express Scripts account at express-scripts.com/covered. If you have any questions, please call Express Scripts at (800) 987-7828.