Medicare Quarterly Part D Spending by Drug
Preliminary quarterly Medicare Part D spending by drug that runs past the latest year in the annual Part D Spending by Drug file.
Freshness
- Last posted
- Period covered
- Jan 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2026
- Update frequency
- Quarterly
Dates as CMS lists them in its catalog.
Before you use it
- Preliminary data that can change each quarter because of claims lag. CMS advises caution when comparing it with the annual file.
- Like the annual file, it does not reflect rebates.
Columns 11
| Column | What it means | Type |
|---|---|---|
Brand NameBrnd_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). | string |
Generic NameGnrc_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 ManufacturersTot_Mftr | Number of manufacturers for each drug. | number |
ManufacturerMftr_Name | Name of the manufacturer of the drug.The "Overall" rows present the totals for the drug across all manufacturers. | string |
YearYear | Identifies the data quarter(s) and year of the Part D claims included. Quarter 1 is for months January through March; Quarter 2 is for months April through June; Quarter 3 is for months July through September; and Quarter 4 is for months October through December. | string |
Total BeneficiariesTot_Benes | Number of Part D beneficiaries utilizing the drug. | number |
Total ClaimsTot_Clms | Number of prescription fills for each drug. Includes original prescriptions and refills. | number |
Total SpendingTot_Spndng | Aggregate drug spending for the Medicare Part D program. | number |
Average Spending Per BeneficiaryAvg_Spnd_Per_Bene | Total Part D drug spending divided by the number of unique beneficiaries utilizing the drug. | number |
Average Total Spending Per ClaimAvg_Spnd_Per_Clm | Total Part D drug spending divided by the number of prescription fills. | number |
Drug UsesDrug_Uses | A description of some of the most common ways in which the drug can be used for treatment. This may not be comprehensive of all possible uses for the drug. | string |
No column matches that filter.
At a glance
- Catalog
- data.cms.gov
- Publisher
- Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA)
- Rows
- 27,748
- Columns
- 11
- State column
- None found
API
Free, no key needed. This request returns the first 10 rows as JSON:
https://data.cms.gov/data-api/v1/dataset/4ff7c618-4e40-483a-b390-c8a58c94fa15/data?size=10
CMS's description
The Medicare Quarterly Part D Spending by Drug dataset presents information on spending for drugs prescribed to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D by physicians and other healthcare providers. Drugs prescribed in the Medicare Part D program are drugs patients generally administer themselves. 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 Part D drugs are based on the gross drug cost, which represents total spending for the prescription claim, including Medicare, plan, and beneficiary payments. The Part D spending metrics do not reflect any manufacturers’ rebates or other price concessions as CMS is prohibited from publicly disclosing such information. This dataset reports preliminary data that goes beyond the latest date available in the annual Medicare Part D Spending by Drug dataset. The data are updated each quarter and may change with each new release due to claims lag. Once an entire year of data is available with a sufficient run-out period, that data will move out of the preliminary quarterly dataset and into the annual Medicare Part D Spending by Drug dataset. Due to the preliminary nature of the quarterly dataset, we advise using caution when comparing between the annual and quarterly datasets.
Methodology and other documents from CMS:
The summary at the top was written by hand from this description. Record id cms:4ff7c618-4e40-483a-b390-c8a58c94fa15. This record as JSON.