Medicare's top 20 costliest drugs

Brooke Murphy -

Hepatitis C drug Harvoni topped the list of Medicare's priciest prescription drugs in 2015, according to an analysis by the Associated Press, which cites data from CMS' Office of the Actuary.

For the list, Medicare's top 20 costliest drugs in 2015 were ranked according to their cost above the program's catastrophic coverage threshold. Medicare's catastrophic coverage threshold is $4,850 in 2016. After a Medicare beneficiary's out-of-pocket spending reaches this amount, new payment levels for future healthcare costs kick in. The beneficiary pays only 5 percent of costs, the insurer pays 15 percent and taxpayers cover 80 percent.

  1. Harvoni (hepatitis C treatment): $6.3 billion
  2. Revlimid (cancer): $1.7 billion
  3. Sovaldi (hepatitis C): $1.2 billion
  4. Copaxone (multiple sclerosis): $1.1 billion
  5. Gleevec (cancer): $1 billion
  6. Humira Pen (rheumatoid arthritis): $886 million
  7. Tecfidera (multiple sclerosis): $724 million
  8. Renvela (kidney disease): $675 million
  9. Xtandi (prostate cancer): $633 million
  10. Lantus Solostar (diabetes): $633 million
  11. Zytiga (prostate cancer): $623 million
  12. Enbrel Sureclick (rheumatoid arthritis): $586 million
  13. Abilify (mental illness): $555 million
  14. Sensipar (kidney disease): $533 million
  15. Truvada (HIV) $525 million
  16. Aripiprazole (mental illness): $504 million
  17. Lantus (diabetes): $484 million
  18. Imbruvica (cancer): $473 million
  19. H.P. Acthar (multiple sclerosis): $467 million
  20. Lyrica (seizures): $461 million

 

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