CMS Updates Drug Dashboards with Drug Pricing and Spending

On March 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its Drug Spending Dashboards with data for 2017. The dashboards add information on manufacturers that are responsible for price increases and includes pricing and spending data for drugs across Medicare Parts B and D and Medicaid.

The dashboards focus on average spending per dosage unit for prescription drugs paid under Medicare Parts B and D and Medicaid, and tracks the change in average spending per dosage unit over time. Information is also provided on drug uses and clinical indications, so patients and physicians can compare the list prices of different medications for a given condition.

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.