Luis Benalcazar-Puga, MD
Internal Medicine · Elizabeth, NJNPI 1801878269
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 816 payments — averaging $14.00 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$2K
- AbbVie$1K
- GSK$847
- Novo Nordisk$782
- Amgen$693
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$663
- plus $6K from 42 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$11,404100%
- Education$230%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- AFREZZA$103
How this compares
$11,426 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 4,032 internal medicine providers in New Jersey.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 326 | $359,275 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 206 | $239,857 |
| EliquisApixaban | 215 | $195,782 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 217 | $183,202 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 195 | $176,993 |
| EnbrelEtanercept | 19 | $141,467 |
| ProliaDenosumab | 79 | $137,625 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 104 | $131,528 |
| Enbrel SureclickEtanercept | 17 | $127,012 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 125 | $122,619 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 112 | $116,431 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 151 | $114,338 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 172 | $95,019 |
| OtezlaApremilast | 17 | $86,935 |
| Soliqua 100-33Insulin Glargine/Lixisenatide | 85 | $83,839 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Breztri Aerosphere | $1,716 | $473,613477 claims |
| AmgenEnbrel, Prolia, Otezla | $693 | $366,027115 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $782 | $277,051230 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Creon, Synthroid | $1,213 | $244,112573 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Synjardy, Tradjenta, Synjardy Xr, Spiriva Respimat | $660 | $240,126238 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity, Mounjaro, Humulin 70-30 | $501 | $220,844449 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta | $847 | $206,933269 claims |
| MerckJanuvia, Janumet, Janumet Xr, Belsomra | $401 | $197,798212 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $187 | $195,782215 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto, Prezcobix | $277 | $151,554137 claims |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLCSoliqua 100-33 | $430 | $83,83985 claims |
| GileadBiktarvy | $14 | $58,50715 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 90th percentile of 4,032 internal medicine providers in New Jersey.
Other internal medicine in Elizabeth
- Francisco MunozElizabeth$303K
- Sanjiv SharmaToms River$33.9M
- Jeffrey CarsonNew Brunswick$13.8M
- Samer HaddadHamilton$6.8M
- Magdy ShenoudaWall$3.7M
- Samar HameedLivingston$3.6M
- Jane RohlfTrenton$2.7M
- Mohammed NisarEdison$2.6M
- Michael CasserNew Milford$2.2M
- Sumitha ReddyHamilton$2M
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.