From diabetes injectables to blockbuster blood thinners, a handful of drugs account for a sizable share of Medicare’s pharmacy bill.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, ranks the most common drugs by total Medicare spending in 2023, sourced from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

It tracks every claim, dosage, and dollar flowing through Medicare Part D, the federal prescription-drug benefit.

Blood Thinners Are America’s Most Common Drug

Eliquis (generic name: Apixaban) alone racked up $18.3 billion in Medicare spending in 2023, nearly double the next drug, Ozempic.

Alongside Xarelto, anticoagulants accounted for over $24 billion in 2023.

Rank
Country
Region
Years in Poor Health
HALE, 2021
Average Life Expectancy, 2025
1
🇧🇭 Bahrain
Asia
17.4
64.2
81.6
2
🇴🇲 Oman
Asia
17.3
63.2
80.5
3
🇸🇿 Eswatini
Africa
16.9
47.5
64.4
4
🇶🇦 Qatar
Asia
16.5
66.2
82.7
5
🇧🇼 Botswana
Africa
16.3
53.1
69.4
6
🇦🇫 Afghanistan
Asia
16.1
50.4
66.5
7
🇦🇪 UAE
Asia
15.9
67.3
83.2
8
🇺🇸 U.S.
Northern America
15.7
63.9
79.6
9
🇵🇪 Peru
Southern America
15.1
63.0
78.1
10
🇱🇧 Lebanon
Asia
14.9
63.2
78.1
11
🇳🇦 Namibia
Africa
14.9
52.8
67.7
12
🇲🇻 Maldives
Asia
14.8
66.7
81.5
13
🇧🇷 Brazil
Southern America
14.4
61.8
76.2
14
🇮🇳 India
Asia
14.4
58.1
72.5
15
🇲🇿 Mozambique
Africa
14.3
49.7
64.0
16
🇮🇷 Iran
Asia
14.1
64.0
78.1
17
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
Europe
14.0
63.7
77.7
18
🇲🇽 Mexico
Americas
14.0
61.4
75.4
19
🇫🇲 Micronesia
Oceania
13.9
57.9
71.8
20
🇨🇱 Chile
Southern America
13.8
67.7
81.5
21
🇨🇺 Cuba
Americas
13.8
64.6
78.4
22
🇪🇷 Eritrea
Africa
13.8
55.4
69.2
23
🇸🇰 Slovakia
Europe
13.8
64.9
78.7
24
🇿🇦 South Africa
Africa
13.7
52.8
66.5
25
🇿🇲 Zambia
Africa
13.7
53.0
66.7
26
🇬🇷 Greece
Europe
13.6
68.6
82.2
27
🇬🇹 Guatemala
Americas
13.6
59.3
72.9
28
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
Europe
13.6
62.4
76.0
29
🇸🇷 Suriname
Southern America
13.6
60.3
73.9
30
🇦🇺 Australia
Oceania
13.6
70.6
84.2
31
🇬🇾 Guyana
Southern America
13.6
56.8
70.4
32
🇱🇸 Lesotho
Africa
13.6
44.6
58.2
33
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Americas
13.6
67.6
81.2
34
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
Asia
13.6
65.6
79.2
35
🇫🇷 France
Europe
13.5
70.1
83.6
36
🇺🇾 Uruguay
Southern America
13.5
65.0
78.5
37
🇵🇱 Poland
Europe
13.5
65.5
79.0
38
🇪🇨 Ecuador
Southern America
13.5
64.3
77.8
39
🇨🇿 Czechia
Europe
13.4
66.7
80.1
40
🇮🇹 Italy
Europe
13.4
70.6
84.0
41
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands
Oceania
13.4
57.4
70.8
42
🇧🇸 Bahamas
Americas
13.4
61.5
74.9
43
🇲🇦 Morocco
Africa
13.4
62.3
75.7
44
🇺🇦 Ukraine
Europe
13.3
61.6
74.9
45
🇹🇳 Tunisia
Africa
13.3
63.6
76.9
46
🇦🇱 Albania
Europe
13.3
66.7
80.0
47
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
Americas
13.3
68.8
82.1
48
🇵🇦 Panama
Americas
13.3
66.7
80.0
49
🇷🇸 Serbia
Europe
13.2
63.9
77.1
50
🇵🇾 Paraguay
Southern America
13.2
60.9
74.1
51
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Europe
13.2
65.0
78.2
52
🇵🇹 Portugal
Europe
13.2
69.5
82.7
53
🇭🇳 Honduras
Americas
13.2
60.0
73.2
54
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
Asia
13.1
61.6
74.7
55
🇾🇪 Yemen
Asia
13.1
56.5
69.6
56
🇻🇺 Vanuatu
Oceania
13.1
58.7
71.8
57
🇨🇦 Canada
Northern America
13.1
69.8
82.9
58
🇨🇴 Colombia
Southern America
13.1
65.0
78.1
59
🇲🇾 Malaysia
Asia
13.1
63.9
77.0
60
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Europe
13.1
71.1
84.2
61
🇰🇮 Kiribati
Oceania
13.1
53.6
66.7
62
🇯🇴 Jordan
Asia
13.0
65.1
78.1
63
🇲🇼 Malawi
Africa
13.0
54.7
67.7
64
🇰🇼 Kuwait
Asia
13.0
67.8
80.8
65
🇬🇧 UK
Europe
13.0
68.6
81.6

Their rise reflects both an aging population and expanding preventative treatment for stroke and atrial fibrillation.

With almost four million beneficiaries, Eliquis is prescribed to roughly one in 10 Part D enrollees.

ℹ️ Related: See the 25 countries that are projected have the most seniors in 2050.

Diabetes and Weight-Loss Therapies Surge in America

Four GLP-1 and SGLT2 diabetes drugs—Ozempic, Jardiance, Trulicity, and Farxiga—collectively totaled $29.7 billion.

Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro also double as weight-loss aids, driving demand beyond traditional type-2 diabetes patients.

This table lists cost per dose for the 10 most expensive drugs.

Their high list prices—Ozempic averages $356 per dose—illustrate how novel biologics multiply spending even with smaller patient counts.

ℹ️ Related: See where Americans skipped going to the doctor (even when they had to) in 2023.

Cancer and Autoimmune Biologics are Expensive Drugs

Revlimid, Humira, and Stelara each exceed $3 billion despite treating fewer than 100,000 beneficiaries each.

Revlimid’s $878 per dose and Stelara’s staggering $26,818 underscore why biologics dominate specialty-drug budgets.

Want more health-related data storytelling? Check out Ranked: Countries That Spend the Most Years in Poor Health on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.