Psychiatric prescribing in Medicare Part D, 2015 to 2024
How often psychiatric medications are prescribed to people on Medicare, and how that's changed over ten years. Built from the federal Part D prescriber files.
Who this covers
Medicare Part D covers prescription drugs for people 65 and older and for younger people with long-term disabilities. These numbers describe that population, not the whole country. A "claim" is one prescription fill, of any length, paid under Part D. Counts include every reason a drug was prescribed, so a medication with non-psychiatric uses counts those too.
Claims by medication group, 2015 to 2024
| Group | 2015 claims | 2024 claims | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antidepressants | 88,607,781 | 111,687,411 | +26.0% |
| Antipsychotics | 26,617,194 | 29,758,993 | +11.8% |
| Benzodiazepines | 44,084,047 | 34,291,534 | -22.2% |
| Sleep medications (non-benzodiazepine) | 10,021,476 | 9,609,944 | -4.1% |
| ADHD and wake-promoting | 3,170,319 | 5,127,725 | +61.7% |
| Dementia medications | 17,429,630 | 15,414,812 | -11.6% |
| Substance use treatment | 1,491,110 | 4,165,192 | +179.3% |
The 25 most prescribed psychiatric medications in 2024
| # | Medication | Claims | 1-year change | 5-year change | Drug cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trazodone | 18,417,710 | +8.1% | +31.4% | $165.3 million |
| 2 | Sertraline | 16,155,695 | +5.9% | +16.4% | $161.6 million |
| 3 | Duloxetine | 13,119,838 | +7.3% | +26.6% | $325.8 million |
| 4 | Escitalopram | 12,700,559 | +7.3% | +28.5% | $158.5 million |
| 5 | Alprazolam | 11,707,746 | +0.3% | -8.2% | $77.2 million |
| 6 | Quetiapine | 9,859,922 | +4.1% | +12.5% | $208.8 million |
| 7 | Bupropion | 9,816,489 | +8.1% | +24.4% | $342.4 million |
| 8 | Clonazepam | 8,856,358 | 0.0% | -7.6% | $74.4 million |
| 9 | Mirtazapine | 8,337,695 | +6.4% | +18.2% | $158.5 million |
| 10 | Lorazepam | 8,137,337 | +0.6% | -11.2% | $78.4 million |
| 11 | Donepezil | 8,116,093 | +6.0% | +0.9% | $103.3 million |
| 12 | Zolpidem | 7,937,736 | +2.1% | +4.5% | $77.8 million |
| 13 | Buspirone | 7,844,181 | +10.4% | +55.1% | $111.2 million |
| 14 | Fluoxetine | 7,496,788 | +4.1% | +8.9% | $98.6 million |
| 15 | Citalopram | 6,743,311 | -2.3% | -19.8% | $51.1 million |
| 16 | Memantine | 6,280,839 | +10.5% | +11.8% | $231.3 million |
| 17 | Venlafaxine | 6,172,268 | +3.2% | +3.5% | $159.9 million |
| 18 | Aripiprazole | 4,200,442 | +4.8% | +22.6% | $1.24 billion |
| 19 | Olanzapine | 3,987,614 | +4.5% | +10.4% | $126.7 million |
| 20 | Risperidone | 3,926,768 | -0.7% | -12.1% | $329.4 million |
| 21 | Amitriptyline | 3,703,146 | +1.7% | +0.6% | $54.7 million |
| 22 | Paroxetine | 3,478,176 | -0.6% | -14.1% | $58.2 million |
| 23 | Diazepam | 3,011,861 | +1.9% | -12.2% | $48.9 million |
| 24 | Buprenorphine | 2,919,781 | +7.8% | +43.2% | $655.6 million |
| 25 | Amphetamine (mixed salts) | 2,506,905 | +17.3% | +30.2% | $111.9 million |
Fastest growing over 5 years
Medications with at least 50,000 claims five years earlier.
- Naltrexone: +91.0%
- Ramelteon: +79.5%
- Guanfacine: +79.3%
- Atomoxetine: +78.2%
- Eszopiclone: +69.6%
- Lisdexamfetamine: +69.2%
- Buspirone: +55.1%
- Desvenlafaxine: +48.8%
Largest declines over 5 years
Medications with at least 50,000 claims five years earlier.
- Oxazepam: -45.4%
- Clorazepate: -39.8%
- Levomilnacipran: -37.7%
- Asenapine: -35.1%
- Perphenazine: -31.6%
- Loxapine: -27.5%
- Desipramine: -26.2%
- Imipramine: -25.4%
Medications used widely outside psychiatry
These are covered on PsychiatryRx but most of their Part D volume is for other conditions, like seizures, nerve pain, or blood pressure. They're listed separately so they don't distort the psychiatric rankings.
| Medication | 2024 claims | 5-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 36,853,169 | +16.6% |
| Pregabalin | 7,576,216 | +44.6% |
| Hydroxyzine | 6,278,612 | +68.6% |
| Valproate | 5,258,833 | -3.5% |
| Lamotrigine | 4,395,266 | +11.5% |
| Propranolol | 4,162,424 | +21.8% |
| Clonidine (extended-release) | 3,498,265 | -13.2% |
| Topiramate | 3,371,649 | +3.9% |
| Carbamazepine | 1,339,342 | -20.0% |
| Oxcarbazepine | 1,288,071 | +4.6% |
| Prazosin | 1,287,099 | +42.3% |
| Methadone | 558,135 | -35.5% |
| Amantadine | 557,672 | +5.2% |
| Clobazam | 183,396 | +50.6% |
Method
National rows only. For each medication, claims, 30-day fills, and total drug cost are summed across every brand and generic row whose CMS generic name maps to that medication (see src/data/partd-map.json). Counts cover every Part D claim regardless of the reason the drug was prescribed. Part D covers people 65 and older and people with disabilities, so it does not represent the whole U.S. population. Beneficiary and prescriber counts are not summed because CMS reports them per row and they would double count.
Update schedule. CMS publishes one new data year at a time, usually in the spring, about 17 months after the year ends. A monthly automated check looks for a new year or a revised file and rebuilds this page when one appears. The page never estimates a year that CMS hasn't published.
Download and reuse
- Claims, 30-day fills, and cost by medication and year (CSV)
- Source data: CMS Medicare Part D Prescribers by Geography and Drug
The tables and CSV on this page are licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You can use, share, and adapt them, including commercially, as long as you credit "PsychiatryRx analysis of CMS Medicare Part D data" and link to this page.
How to cite this page
- Short
Psychiatric prescribing in Medicare Part D, 2015 to 2024. PsychiatryRx, 2026. https://psychiatryrx.org/data/prescribing-report/- APA
Refai, S. (2026, September 29). Psychiatric prescribing in Medicare Part D, 2015 to 2024. PsychiatryRx. https://psychiatryrx.org/data/prescribing-report/- MLA
Refai, Shariq. "Psychiatric prescribing in Medicare Part D, 2015 to 2024." PsychiatryRx, 29 Sep. 2026, psychiatryrx.org/data/prescribing-report/.
Medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA. Link to this page rather than copying it; see our copyright page for reuse terms.