Medicare Part D Quarterly Drug Spending by Manufacturer and Indication

Quarterly data on spending for drugs prescribed to Medicare Part D beneficiaries, including manufacturer and clinical indication information. The dataset provides preliminary spending metrics based on gross drug cost, updated each quarter by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. It offers more recent but provisional data compared to the annual Medicare Part D Spending by Drug dataset.

Use Cases

• Analyze gross drug cost trends by drug manufacturer across quarters to monitor market dynamics.
• Compare preliminary quarterly spending metrics for specific clinical indications against finalized annual data.
• Track changes in total spending per drug claim, including Medicare, plan, and beneficiary payments, over successive quarterly releases.

Strengths

• Data is updated quarterly, providing more frequent insights than annual releases.
• Includes consumer-friendly information on drug uses and clinical indications.
• Published by the authoritative U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Limitations

• Spending metrics do not reflect manufacturer rebates or price concessions, limiting true cost analysis.
• Data is preliminary and subject to change with each quarterly update due to claims lag.
• Direct comparison with the finalized annual dataset is not advised due to the provisional nature of quarterly data.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Collection Method

Based on prescription claims data from the Medicare Part D program.

Time Range

Quarterly coverage, with preliminary data beyond the latest annual release.

Freshness

Updated quarterly; last updated 2026-01-30.

Geography

United States (Medicare beneficiaries).