Donepezil, marketed under the brand name Aricept, is an oral tablet medication prescribed for people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Medicare drug plans may cover the brand drug Aricept or its generic alternative. But specific coverage and cost depend on your specific plan.
Oral medications may be covered either under a stand-alone Medicare Part D plan or a Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan.
That said, these plans are managed by private insurers. Whether or not your specific plan covers Aricept depends on the specific plan and its formulary, which is a list of its covered drugs.
Generally, Medicare drug plans must cover at least two drugs from the most commonly prescribed categories. As Aricept is a commonly prescribed drug, your plan will likely cover either the brand or generic version or an alternative drug with similar effectiveness.
The brand Aricept can cost around $500 without insurance for a 30-day supply. Generic donepezil, meanwhile, costs currently between $9 and $60, depending on the pharmacy.
That said, your out-of-pocket expenses with Medicare will depend on the tier classification of the medication in your plan. Generally, the higher the tier, the more you’ll pay out of pocket. And generic drugs tend to fall into lower tiers.
But, as of 2025, Medicare drug plans limit annual prescription expenses to $2,000, after which your plan will fully cover your remaining medication costs. In 2026, this cap is anticipated to increase to $2,100.
Plus, you’ll usually have a deductible and premium for your drug plan, and these will also vary by plan. In 2025, the maximum deductible for any Medicare drug plan will not exceed $590.
Until recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had only approved medications that address Alzheimer’s symptoms rather than its underlying causes. These symptom-management drugs, including cholinesterase inhibitors like Aricept, have been the standard of care for years.
For the traditional symptom-treating medications, Medicare Part D provides coverage when the drugs appear on your plan’s list of covered medications.
But a breakthrough came with the FDA’s approval of monoclonal antibodies like Leqembi (lecanemab), which attack the beta-amyloid plaques believed to cause the disease. These treatments would be given through intravenous (IV) infusions, which means that Medicare Part B should cover them under specific conditions.