Top 10 costliest, most common Medicare Part D drugs

CMS has ranked the top 10 most common drugs and the top 10 costliest drugs prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2014.

For the rankings, CMS used its dataset that reflects drug utilization and costs incurred by 38 million beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part D programs in 2014. The dataset includes the total number of prescriptions dispensed — including original prescriptions and any refills — and the total cost of the drug. Drug costs include actual cost, dispensing fees, sales tax and any applicable administration fees.

Below are the top 10 drugs administered by claim count.

1. Lisinopril (38.2 million claims)
2. Levothyroxine Sodium (37.7 million claims)
3. Amlodipine Besylate (36.3 million claims)
4. Simvastatin (34.1 million claims)
5. Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen (33.4 million claims)
6. Omeprazole (33 million claims)
7. Atorvastatin calcium (32.6 million claims)
8. Furosemide (27.1 million claims)
9. Metformin HCI (23.5 million claims)
10. Gabapentin (22.1 million claims)

Below are the top 10 drugs by cost.

1. Sovaldi ($3.1 billion)
2. Nexium ($2.7 billion)
3. Crestor ($2.5 billion)
4. Abilify ($2.5 billion)
5. Advair Diskus ($2.3 billion)
6. Spiriva ($2.2 billion)
7. Lantus SoloSTAR ($2 billion)
8. Januvia ($1.8 billion)
9. Latnus ($1.7 billion)
10. Revlimid ($1.7 billion)