USP issues list, but formulary not set in stone.

DRUGS; GUIDELINES; ASSOCIATIONS, institutions, etc.; CENTERS for Medicare & Medicaid Services (U.S.); HEALTH policy; MEDICAL care for older people; MEDICARE

The article reports that the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) last month submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidelines for 146 categories of prescription drugs that should be covered under the new Medicare benefit. Insurers must offer to seniors at least two drugs of each type in order to meet the criteria of the new law. The list, tasked to USP under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, will provide the framework for billions of dollars in Medicare spending as part of the largest expansion in the program's history. Medicare officials still must decide whether to accept the recommendation of USP.