Blood Thinners & Anti-Obesity Shots Dominate Medicare Drug Spending

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.