CMS updates Medicare, Medicaid drug spending dashboards 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today updated its Medicare and Medicaid drug spending dashboards with 2017 data. The dashboards show trends in average spending per dosage unit for prescription drugs paid under Medicare Parts B and D and Medicaid, drugs with limited to no competition, and the list price of different medications for a given condition. “The dashboards pinpoint the sources of rising prescription drug prices to help guide our continued work to address this problem,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “From 2013-2017, prescription drug spending grew at an average annual rate of 10.6 percent in Medicare Part D, 10.0 percent in Part B, and 14.8 percent in Medicaid – this is one of our fastest areas of growth.” In 2017, total gross spending on prescription drugs was $154.9 billion in Medicare Part D, $30.4 billion in Part B, and $67.6 billion in Medicaid.