The data included information about 36 million people who are enrolled in the Part D program, as well as information on one million distinct healthcare providers who collectively prescribed $103 billion in prescription drugs under the program during 2013.
The data did not take into account any manufacturer rebates paid to Part D plan sponsors.
Here are five things to know about the data.
1. The top 10 drugs in 2013 by claim count were Lisinopril, Simvastatin, Levothyroxine Sodium, Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen, Amlodipine Besylate, Omeprazole, Atorvastatin Calcium, Furosemide, Metformin Hcl and Metoprolol Tartrate.
2. The claim counts for those top 10 drugs ranged from 21 million claims to 36.9 million claims and the total costs for each drug ranged from $145 million to $911 million, according to CMS.
3. The top 10 drugs by cost were Nexium, Advair Diskus, Crestor, Abilify, Cymbalta, Spiriva, Namenda, Januvia, Lantus Solostar and Revlimid. Total drug costs for each of those drugs were all more than $1 billion.
4. In 2013, the most money was spent on heartburn drug Nexium, which was prescribed to 1.5 million Medicare patients that year, for a total cost of more than $2.5 billion.
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