On which drugs does Medicare spend the most? – Healthcare Economist

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) identifies the Part D drugs that Medicare spends the most money on. This is an important question as CMS will begin negotiating the price of drugs under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) based on the top 10 most expensive Part D drugs. Some relevant statistics and figures are below.

In 2021, Medicare Part D covered more than 3,500 prescription drugs, with a total gross spending of $216 billion, not taking into account rebates paid by drug manufacturers to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The top 10 best-selling Part D drugs accounted for 0.3% of covered drugs and 22% of total gross Medicare drug spending in 2021… The top 100 drugs, representing just 3% of covered drugs, accounted for 61% of total gross spending that year