CMS updated its drug-spending dashboards Dec. 19 to include pricing data from 2018 in an effort to increase pricing transparency and lower drug costs.
The dashboards focus on average spending per dosage for prescription drugs paid for by Medicare Parts B and D as well as Medicaid. They also track the change in average spending per dosage over time, display the name of each drug's manufacturer and show information on drug uses and clinical indications.
The update is the most comprehensive to date, according to CMS, as it previously took two years for new drugs to appear on the dashboard. It includes a new tool to alert users of potential data quality issues.
The update also enacts changes proposed in President Donald Trump's budget to include information on prescription drug units that were paid for in Medicare Part B but were discarded.
The data showed that in 2018, total gross spending on prescription drugs was $168.1 billion in Medicare Part D, $33.3 billion in Medicare Part B, and $66.4 billion in Medicaid.
The proportion of prescription drugs with a unit price increase went down from 2017 to 2018 in both the Medicare Part B program and in Medicaid. In the Medicare Part D program, the proportion of prescription drugs with a unit price increase remained steady from 2017 to 2018.
"The continued public release of what Medicare and Medicaid pay for prescription drugs puts manufacturers on notice: The public is watching what you are charging patients," said CMS Administrator Seema Verma.
Read the full news release here.
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