Prescription data from 38 million Medicare Part D users in 2014 was made available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services so physicians can use it to conduct analysis of trends, according to a D Healthcare Daily report.
Healthcare Daily analyzed data to show the most expensive and more prescribed medications.
Here is what you need to know.
1. Lisinopril is the most widely prescribed drug. There were 38.2 million claims filed with 7.4 million beneficiaries, 464,757 prescribers and the total cost of the drug was $281.6 million.
Levothyroxine Sodium was the second most widely prescribed drug with 37.1 million claims, 6.2 million beneficiaries and 416,518 prescribers at a total cost of $631.8 million.
2. As for highest cost, Sovaldi leads the list. There were 109,543 claims were filed, with 33,028 beneficiaries, 7,323 prescribers and a total cost of $3.1 trillion.
Nexium was the second most expensive. There were 7.5 million claims filed, 286,927 prescribers and 1.4 million beneficiaries at a total cost of $2.6 trillion.
3. CMS has released prescription data for the last two years.
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