NC Medicare Vaccine Spending: Shingrix and Arexvy
North Carolina Medicare Spent $91 Million on Two Vaccines in 2023. Get Both.
Shingrix and Arexvy are the two most expensive vaccines in North Carolina Medicare Part D. Both are free to you. Both are worth getting.
$45.3M
NC Medicare spend on Shingrix (shingles vaccine), 2023
$46.0M
NC Medicare spend on Arexvy (RSV vaccine), 2023
$0
Your out-of-pocket cost for both under Part D
Shingrix: the shingles vaccine
Shingrix is GSK's recombinant shingles vaccine, recommended by the CDC for all adults 50 and older. It's about 90% effective at preventing shingles, compared to roughly 50% for the older Zostavax it replaced. It's given as two doses, two to six months apart.
Shingles causes a painful blistering rash and can lead to postherpetic neuralgia, nerve pain that persists long after the rash clears. In severe cases it can affect the eyes or hearing. NC Medicare paid for 212,363 Shingrix administrations in 2023 at about $214 per dose. Your out-of-pocket cost under Part D is zero.
Arexvy: the new RSV vaccine
Arexvy is GSK's RSV vaccine for adults 60 and older, approved in 2023. RSV causes roughly 60,000 to 120,000 hospitalizations in older adults per year in the U.S. For North Carolinians with COPD, heart disease, or diabetes, RSV can be severe. NC Medicare paid for 144,654 Arexvy administrations in 2023 at about $318 per dose. Your out-of-pocket cost is also zero.
How to get both
Walk into any major pharmacy with your Medicare card. Ask for Shingrix if you're 50 or older, or Arexvy if you're 60 or older. No doctor's visit required. No copay. Shingrix requires a second dose two to six months after the first, schedulable at the same pharmacy. Arexvy is a single dose.
Why this article is different
Unlike every other drug in this series, these vaccines are a good-news story. The system costs are real, but they're borne entirely by Medicare rather than patients. The vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness. If you haven't gotten them, the only thing stopping you is the trip to the pharmacy.
NC Medicare spent $91 million on Shingrix and Arexvy combined in 2023, with zero out-of-pocket cost to beneficiaries under Part D. Both vaccines are available at most pharmacies without an appointment.
Top 10 North Carolina Drugs by Total Medicare Part D Spending, 2023
Source: CMS Medicare Part D Prescribers by Geography and Drug, 2023. North Carolina state-level data.
A note on this data: All figures come from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) Medicare Part D Prescribers by Geography & Drug dataset, 2023. This data covers Medicare Part D
(prescription drug coverage) only and does not represent commercial insurance, Medicaid, or cash-pay prescriptions.
Suppressed values (fewer than 11 beneficiaries) are excluded from totals.
This article is for educational purposes only. Nothing here is medical advice. Talk to your doctor before
making any decisions about your medications or treatment. This content is not connected with or endorsed
by the U.S. Government or the federal Medicare program.
