How Much Does Crestor (Rosuvastatin) Cost in Arizona in 2026?

Arizona Retail Pricing for Rosuvastatin in 2026

The cash price for generic rosuvastatin at Arizona pharmacies averages $15 per month for a 30-day supply in 2026. That figure holds across most doses (5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg, and 40 mg tablets), though the 40 mg tablet occasionally runs $2 to $5 higher at independent pharmacies. Brand-name Crestor, manufactured by AstraZeneca, carries a wholesale acquisition cost near $290 per month.

The pricing gap between brand and generic widened after Crestor's patent expiration in 2016. Multiple generic manufacturers entered the U.S. market, and a 2023 FDA analysis confirmed that prices typically fall 80% to 85% once five or more generic competitors exist. Rosuvastatin now has more than a dozen approved generic manufacturers, placing it firmly in that deep-discount tier.

Arizona-specific pricing can vary by pharmacy chain. Costco and Walmart locations in Phoenix and Tucson tend to price 30-tablet supplies between $8 and $12. CVS and Walgreens locations average closer to $15 to $18 without a discount card. Cash-pay patients should comparison-shop, since the same tablet at pharmacies within a five-mile radius can differ by 40% or more.

Rosuvastatin remains one of the most-prescribed medications in the United States. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reports that statins as a class are used by roughly 25% of adults over age 40. Within that class, rosuvastatin and atorvastatin together account for the majority of prescriptions filled nationally.

Arizona Medicaid and AHCCCS Coverage

Arizona Medicaid does not list Crestor on the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) preferred drug list. Patients enrolled in AHCCCS plans will find generic rosuvastatin covered at lower formulary tiers, but the brand-name product requires prior authorization and is rarely approved when a generic equivalent is available.

AHCCCS managed care plans, including Mercy Care, Banner University Family Care, and Arizona Complete Health, each maintain their own formularies. All three cover generic rosuvastatin without prior authorization at the lowest copay tier. Copays for AHCCCS enrollees range from $0 to $4 depending on the specific managed care plan and the enrollee's income category.

For patients who need the 40 mg dose or who have documented intolerance to generic formulations, a prescriber can submit a prior authorization request. Approval rates for brand Crestor through AHCCCS are low. A step-therapy protocol typically requires documented failure or intolerance to at least one generic statin before the brand product is authorized.

The Endocrine Society's 2020 lipid management guidelines support rosuvastatin as a first-line high-intensity statin at 20 mg to 40 mg daily for patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) or LDL cholesterol above 190 mg/dL. Arizona Medicaid coverage aligns with these recommendations by covering the generic at all indicated doses.

Insurance Coverage Across Arizona Commercial Plans

Most commercial insurance plans in Arizona cover generic rosuvastatin on their preferred formulary. Typical copays fall between $0 and $15 for a 30-day supply. High-deductible health plans may require patients to pay the full cash price until the deductible is met, but even then, generic rosuvastatin at $15 per month rarely creates a meaningful financial burden.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, and Cigna all list generic rosuvastatin on Tier 1 or Tier 2 of their Arizona formularies. Brand Crestor sits on Tier 3 (non-preferred brand) or higher, with copays ranging from $45 to $90 per month. Step therapy applies in most cases: the plan requires generic rosuvastatin or atorvastatin to be tried first.

Medicare Part D plans in Arizona similarly favor generics. The 2026 Part D redesign capped annual out-of-pocket spending at $2,000. For a medication priced at $15 per month ($180 per year), rosuvastatin falls well within that cap. Patients already taking rosuvastatin are unlikely to reach their out-of-pocket maximum from this drug alone.

The JUPITER trial (N=17,802) demonstrated that rosuvastatin 20 mg reduced major cardiovascular events by 44% compared to placebo in patients with elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) but normal LDL cholesterol [1]. That trial's data helped secure rosuvastatin's FDA-approved indication for primary prevention of cardiovascular events, which in turn supports insurance coverage for a broader patient population than many other statins.

Compounded Rosuvastatin in Arizona

Compounded rosuvastatin is available through licensed 503A pharmacies in Arizona. These pharmacies operate under Section 503A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which permits compounding based on individual patient prescriptions.

Arizona does not restrict 503A compounding of rosuvastatin. A prescriber writes a patient-specific prescription, and the compounding pharmacy prepares the medication. This route is primarily useful for patients who need a non-standard dose (e.g., 7.5 mg or 15 mg), a liquid formulation for swallowing difficulties, or a dye-free preparation for allergy reasons.

Pricing for compounded rosuvastatin varies widely. Some telehealth-affiliated compounding pharmacies offer rosuvastatin as part of bundled subscription plans. Individual compounding pharmacies in the Phoenix metro area price custom rosuvastatin preparations between $20 and $60 per month depending on dose and formulation.

The Arizona State Board of Pharmacy oversees compounding pharmacies operating within the state. 503A pharmacies must compound in response to a valid patient-specific prescription from a licensed prescriber. 503B outsourcing facilities, which compound without patient-specific prescriptions for office use, are regulated by the FDA under a separate framework.

Patients considering compounded rosuvastatin should confirm that the pharmacy holds a valid Arizona Board of Pharmacy license and meets USP 795 or USP 797 standards for non-sterile and sterile compounding, respectively. For an oral tablet or capsule, USP 795 applies.

Discount Programs and Savings Cards

Several programs reduce the out-of-pocket cost for rosuvastatin in Arizona.

GoodRx, RxSaver, and similar platforms. These aggregators negotiate pharmacy-benefit-manager pricing and display real-time coupons. In May 2026, GoodRx lists generic rosuvastatin 20 mg (30 tablets) at $4 to $9 at Arizona Costco, Walmart, and select independent pharmacies. The price at CVS and Walgreens through GoodRx falls between $10 and $16.

Manufacturer savings cards. AstraZeneca periodically offers copay cards for brand Crestor, reducing the monthly cost to $3 to $30 for commercially insured patients. These cards do not apply to government-funded insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare). Availability and terms change; check the AstraZeneca website directly.

Walmart $4/$10 program. Rosuvastatin (select doses) appears on Walmart's reduced-price generic list, with a 30-day supply at $4 and a 90-day supply at $10 at Arizona Walmart pharmacies. Not all doses are included. The 5 mg, 10 mg, and 20 mg are typically covered; the 40 mg may not be.

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs. This direct-to-consumer pharmacy prices generic rosuvastatin at manufacturer cost plus a flat 15% markup plus a $5 dispensing fee plus $5 shipping. As of 2026, this typically brings the total to $5 to $8 for a 30-day supply, shipped to any Arizona address.

The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology's 2018 cholesterol guideline identifies rosuvastatin 20 mg to 40 mg as one of only two high-intensity statin options (the other being atorvastatin 40 mg to 80 mg) [2]. For patients requiring high-intensity therapy, rosuvastatin is not interchangeable with lower-potency statins, making access at affordable prices a clinical priority.

Telehealth Prescribing in Arizona

Arizona permits telehealth prescribing of rosuvastatin. A licensed prescriber can evaluate a patient via audio-video visit and issue a prescription for rosuvastatin without an in-person examination, provided the standard of care is met.

Arizona's telehealth parity law (A.R.S. § 36-3602) requires commercial insurers to cover telehealth services at the same reimbursement rate as in-person visits. This means the prescribing visit itself is covered by insurance on the same terms as an office visit.

Several telehealth platforms operating in Arizona prescribe rosuvastatin as part of cardiovascular risk management programs. These include HealthRX, Hims, Ro, and Amazon One Medical. Patients can upload recent lab results (lipid panel, liver function tests) and receive a prescription within 24 to 48 hours in most cases.

For initial prescribing, the 2018 AHA/ACC guideline recommends a clinician-patient risk discussion that includes a 10-year ASCVD risk calculation, review of risk-enhancing factors, and consideration of coronary artery calcium scoring in borderline-risk patients [2]. Telehealth visits accommodate this discussion if the patient's labs and imaging results are available electronically.

Rosuvastatin does not require DEA scheduling, in-person monitoring, or REMS program enrollment. It is a straightforward prescription medication. Arizona has no state-specific restrictions that would prevent telehealth-initiated prescribing of this drug.

Clinical Efficacy and Dosing

Rosuvastatin is the most potent statin by milligram. The 10 mg dose lowers LDL cholesterol by approximately 46%, while the 40 mg dose reduces LDL by about 55%, according to the FDA-approved prescribing information [3]. By comparison, atorvastatin 80 mg (the highest approved atorvastatin dose) lowers LDL by roughly 50%.

The JUPITER trial enrolled 17,802 apparently healthy men (age 50+) and women (age 60+) with LDL cholesterol below 130 mg/dL but hsCRP above 2.0 mg/L [1]. Rosuvastatin 20 mg daily reduced the primary endpoint of first major cardiovascular event by 44% (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.69, P<0.00001) over a median 1.9 years of follow-up. The trial was stopped early for efficacy.

The METEOR trial (N=984) demonstrated that rosuvastatin 40 mg slowed progression of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) compared to placebo over two years in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis [4]. Mean change in maximum CIMT was -0.0014 mm/year with rosuvastatin versus +0.0131 mm/year with placebo (P<0.001), as published in JAMA.

Standard dosing ranges from 5 mg to 40 mg once daily. The 2018 AHA/ACC guideline classifies rosuvastatin 20 mg to 40 mg as high-intensity statin therapy (expected LDL reduction of 50% or greater) and rosuvastatin 5 mg to 10 mg as moderate-intensity therapy (expected LDL reduction of 30% to 49%) [2].

Patients of Asian descent may have higher rosuvastatin plasma concentrations. The FDA label recommends a starting dose of 5 mg in this population, with careful titration. Arizona's diverse population makes this pharmacogenomic consideration relevant to local prescribers.

Safety Monitoring and Side Effects

Common side effects include myalgia (reported in 2% to 11% of patients across clinical trials), headache, nausea, and abdominal pain. Serious but rare adverse effects include rhabdomyolysis, hepatotoxicity, and new-onset diabetes.

The JUPITER trial post-hoc analysis showed a 25% increase in physician-reported diabetes with rosuvastatin 20 mg compared to placebo (3.0% vs. 2.4% over 1.9 years) [5]. The absolute risk increase was 0.6%, translating to one additional diabetes case per 167 patients treated. The authors concluded that cardiovascular benefits substantially outweighed the diabetes risk, as stated by Dr. Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital: "For every new case of diabetes diagnosed, we prevented roughly five cardiovascular events."

Liver function tests (ALT, AST) should be checked before starting therapy and as clinically indicated thereafter. The FDA revised its statin safety communication in 2012 to remove the requirement for routine periodic liver function monitoring, noting that serious liver injury with statins is rare and unpredictable [6].

A baseline lipid panel, hepatic function panel, and hemoglobin A1c are recommended before initiating rosuvastatin. Follow-up labs at 4 to 12 weeks assess LDL response and guide dose titration. Arizona telehealth platforms typically integrate with Quest Diagnostics and Sonora Quest Laboratories for pre-treatment and follow-up testing.

Creatine kinase (CK) testing is not routinely required but should be obtained if a patient reports unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness. Risk factors for statin-associated muscle symptoms include age over 75, renal impairment, hypothyroidism, and concomitant use of fibrates or certain azole antifungals.

How Arizona Compares to Other States

Arizona's average $15 monthly cash price for generic rosuvastatin aligns with the national average. States with higher pharmacy density (like California and Texas) sometimes show slightly lower prices due to greater competition. States with certificate-of-need pharmacy laws (like some in the Southeast) may trend $2 to $4 higher.

Arizona's AHCCCS program not listing brand Crestor as preferred is consistent with most state Medicaid programs. Only a small number of state Medicaid formularies include brand Crestor, and those that do typically require high copays or prior authorization.

The availability of 503A compounding in Arizona places it in the majority of states. A few states impose additional restrictions on compounding of commercially available medications, but Arizona follows the federal 503A framework without significant added barriers.

Arizona ranks 14th nationally in statin prescription volume per capita, according to CDC BRFSS data on cholesterol-lowering medication use among adults [7]. Approximately 22% of Arizona adults over age 45 report current statin use, compared to the national average of 25%.