https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180705143901.htm

Writing in the July 4 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Jonathan Watanabe, PharmD, PhD, associate professor of clinical pharmacy in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, and colleagues report that the amount Medicare Part D paid for the 10 medications with the largest spending increased from an inflation-adjusted $21.5 billion in 2011 to $28.4 billion in 2015, a 32 percent increase.

In that same time period, the number of patients treated with at least one of these medications also declined 32 percent, from slightly more than 12.9 million patients in 2011 to 8.8 million in 2015. The average annual decrease in patient numbers was 7.9 percent.