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Medicaid Spending by Drug

Medicaid spending on covered outpatient drugs, with average spending per dosage unit, change over time, manufacturers and drug uses.

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Last posted: Jun 25, 2026
Period covered: Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024
Update frequency: Annually

Dates as CMS lists them in its catalog.

Before you use it

Spending includes federal and state reimbursement and dispensing fees, and is not reduced by Medicaid rebates paid to states.

Columns 36

Column	What it means	Type
Brand Name`Brnd_Name`	The name of the drug filled. This includes both brand names (drugs that have a trademarked name) and generic names (drugs that do not have a trademarked name). *Average spending per dosage unit reflects multiple routes of administration of the drug (e.g., intravenous, subcutaneous) which individually may have different unit pricing. Additional information regarding calculation of spending per unit can be found in the methodology document. ^Drug identified as outlier; use measures based on Average Spending per Dosage Unit with caution. See methodology document for additional details.	string
Generic Name`Gnrc_Name`	A term referring to the chemical ingredient of a drug rather than the trademarked brand name under which the drug is sold.	string
Number of Manufacturers`Tot_Mftr`	Number of manufacturers for each drug.	number
Manufacturer`Mftr_Name`	Name of the manufacturer of the drug.	string
2020 Total Spending`Tot_Spndng_2020`	Aggregate drug spending for the Medicaid program during the benefit year.	number
2020 Total Dosage Units`Tot_Dsg_Unts_2020`	The sum of the dosage units of medication dispensed across the calendar year (e.g. number of tablets, grams, milliliters or other units). Unit refers to the drug unit in the lowest dispensable amount.	number
2020 Total Claims`Tot_Clms_2020`	Number of prescription fills for each drug. Includes original prescriptions and refills.	number
2020 Average Total Spending Per Dosage Unit (Weighted)`Avg_Spnd_Per_Dsg_Unt_Wghtd_2020`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of dosage units, which is weighted by the proportion of total claims.	number
2020 Average Total Spending Per Claim`Avg_Spnd_Per_Clm_2020`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of prescription fills.	number
2020 Outlier Flag`Outlier_Flag_2020`	Yearly outlier flag variable, which is set to “1” when a drug’s Average Spending per Dosage Unit is substantially impacted by outlier records in a given year. These potentially anomalous drugs are identified as outliers so that users can exercise caution when interpreting results. See the methodology document for additional details.	number
2021 Total Spending`Tot_Spndng_2021`	Aggregate drug spending for the Medicaid program during the benefit year.	number
2021 Total Dosage Units`Tot_Dsg_Unts_2021`	The sum of the dosage units of medication dispensed across the calendar year (e.g. number of tablets, grams, milliliters or other units). Unit refers to the drug unit in the lowest dispensable amount.	number
2021 Total Claims`Tot_Clms_2021`	Number of prescription fills for each drug. Includes original prescriptions and refills.	number
2021 Average Total Spending Per Dosage Unit (Weighted)`Avg_Spnd_Per_Dsg_Unt_Wghtd_2021`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of dosage units, which is weighted by the proportion of total claims.	number
2021 Average Total Spending Per Claim`Avg_Spnd_Per_Clm_2021`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of prescription fills.	number
Outlier_Flag_2021`Outlier_Flag_2021`		number
2022 Total Spending`Tot_Spndng_2022`	Aggregate drug spending for the Medicaid program during the benefit year.	number
2022 Total Dosage Units`Tot_Dsg_Unts_2022`	The sum of the dosage units of medication dispensed across the calendar year (e.g. number of tablets, grams, milliliters or other units). Unit refers to the drug unit in the lowest dispensable amount.	number
2022 Total Claims`Tot_Clms_2022`	Number of prescription fills for each drug. Includes original prescriptions and refills.	number
2022 Average Total Spending Per Dosage Unit (Weighted)`Avg_Spnd_Per_Dsg_Unt_Wghtd_2022`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of dosage units, which is weighted by the proportion of total claims.	number
2022 Average Total Spending Per Claim`Avg_Spnd_Per_Clm_2022`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of prescription fills.	number
2022 Outlier Flag`Outlier_Flag_2022`	Yearly outlier flag variable, which is set to “1” when a drug’s Average Spending per Dosage Unit is substantially impacted by outlier records in a given year. These potentially anomalous drugs are identified as outliers so that users can exercise caution when interpreting results. See the methodology document for additional details.	number
2023 Total Spending`Tot_Spndng_2023`	Aggregate drug spending for the Medicaid program during the benefit year.	number
2023 Total Dosage Units`Tot_Dsg_Unts_2023`	The sum of the dosage units of medication dispensed across the calendar year (e.g. number of tablets, grams, milliliters or other units). Unit refers to the drug unit in the lowest dispensable amount.	number
2023 Total Claims`Tot_Clms_2023`	Number of prescription fills for each drug. Includes original prescriptions and refills.	number
2023 Average Total Spending Per Dosage Unit (Weighted)`Avg_Spnd_Per_Dsg_Unt_Wghtd_2023`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of dosage units, which is weighted by the proportion of total claims.	number
2023 Average Total Spending Per Claim`Avg_Spnd_Per_Clm_2023`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of prescription fills.	number
2023 Outlier Flag`Outlier_Flag_2023`	Yearly outlier flag variable, which is set to “1” when a drug’s Average Spending per Dosage Unit is substantially impacted by outlier records in a given year. These potentially anomalous drugs are identified as outliers so that users can exercise caution when interpreting results. See the methodology document for additional details.	number
2024 Total Spending`Tot_Spndng_2024`	Aggregate drug spending for the Medicaid program during the benefit year.	number
2024 Total Dosage Units`Tot_Dsg_Unts_2024`	The sum of the dosage units of medication dispensed across the calendar year (e.g. number of tablets, grams, milliliters or other units). Unit refers to the drug unit in the lowest dispensable amount.	number
2024 Total Claims`Tot_Clms_2024`	Number of prescription fills for each drug. Includes original prescriptions and refills.	number
2024 Average Total Spending Per Dosage Unit (Weighted)`Avg_Spnd_Per_Dsg_Unt_Wghtd_2024`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of dosage units, which is weighted by the proportion of total claims.	number
2024 Average Total Spending Per Claim`Avg_Spnd_Per_Clm_2024`	Medicaid drug spending divided by the number of prescription fills.	number
2024 Outlier Flag`Outlier_Flag_2024`	Yearly outlier flag variable, which is set to “1” when a drug’s Average Spending per Dosage Unit is substantially impacted by outlier records in a given year. These potentially anomalous drugs are identified as outliers so that users can exercise caution when interpreting results.See the methodology document for additional details.	number
Change in Average Total Spending Per Dosage Unit (2023-2024)`Chg_Avg_Spnd_Per_Dsg_Unt_23_24`	The percent change in average spending per dosage unit from the prior year.	number
Annual Growth Rate in Average Total Spending Per Dosage Unit (2020-2024)`CAGR_Avg_Spnd_Per_Dsg_Unt_20_24`	The constant average change in spending per dosage unit over the most recent five years of data availability, calculated using the compound annual growth rate (CAGR).	number

At a glance

Catalog: data.cms.gov
Publisher: Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA)
Rows: 18,511
Columns: 36
State column: None found
Topics: Prescription drugs, Medicaid and CHIP, Spending and use of services, Doctors and clinicians
Contact: IPAG_Data_Products@cms.hhs.gov

API

Free, no key needed. This request returns the first 10 rows as JSON:

https://data.cms.gov/data-api/v1/dataset/be64fce3-e835-4589-b46b-024198e524a6/data?size=10

CMS's description

The Medicaid by Drug dataset presents information on spending for covered outpatient drugs prescribed to beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid by physicians and other healthcare professionals. The dataset focuses on average spending per dosage unit and change in average spending per dosage unit over time. Units refer to the drug unit in the lowest dispensable amount. It also includes spending information for manufacturer(s) of the drugs as well as consumer-friendly information of drug uses and clinical indications. Drug spending metrics for Medicaid represent the total amount reimbursed by both Medicaid and non-Medicaid entities to pharmacies for the drug. Medicaid drug spending contains both the Federal and State reimbursement and is inclusive of any applicable dispensing fees. In addition, this total is not reduced or affected by Medicaid rebates paid to the states.

Methodology and other documents from CMS:

Medicaid Spending by Drug Methodology

The summary at the top was written by hand from this description. Record id cms:be64fce3-e835-4589-b46b-024198e524a6. This record as JSON.

Freshness

Before you use it

Columns 36

At a glance

API

CMS's description