In 2008, Medicare spent $68.3 billion dollars on drugs purchased through Part D plans. This is too much money! Seventy-five percent of the $68.3 billion was spent on brand name drugs like Lipitor, Plavix, and Nexium.
Generics used to treat high cholesterol cost less than $10, while brand drugs cost $100 or more. Although most people on Medicare use generics, the chart below shows how the higher cost of brand drugs overwhelms the Part D budget. If everyone used generics, the Medicare Part D budget could be cut by billions of dollars.
In 2008 Medicare spent $68.3 billion
on drugs purchased through Part D.
Lipitor is going generic soon. Fosamax now has a generic replacement, so Part D plans are not covering this drug for treating osteoporosis.