Medicaid Drug Spending Growth Hit Double Digits in 2021, Magellan Rx Reports

In 2021, the net cost per prescription drug claim in 25 Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) programs went up 11.0%, or $5.81, according to Magellan Rx Management’s latest annual Medicaid Pharmacy Trend Report. It is the first time that drug spending growth reached double digits since the inception of Magellan’s report in 2016. Net spending on specialty drugs continued to see double-digit growth at 13.0%, compared with 10.9% in 2020, while net trend on traditional drugs rose 5.8%, up 4.1 percentage points from 2020. For the second year in a row, specialty drugs accounted for more than half of total drug spending in Medicaid FFS, while only representing 1.3% of total pharmacy utilization.

© 2025 MMIT
Jinghong Chen

Jinghong Chen Reporter

Jinghong has been producing infographics and data stories on employer-sponsored insurance, public health insurance programs and prescription drug coverage for AIS Health’s Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits since 2018. She also manages AIS Health’s annual executive compensation database for top insurers and Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates. Before joining AIS Health, she interned at WBEZ, Al Jazeera English and The New York Times Chinese. She graduated from Missouri School of Journalism with a focus on data journalism and international reporting.

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