Medicare Spent Bulk of Drug Cash on Advertised Products

Medicare and its beneficiaries spent $560 billion on prescription drugs between 2016 and 2018, and nearly 60% of that money went to products the pharmaceutical industry advertised directly to consumers, a government watchdog report found.

The Government Accountability Office’s report, released Thursday, indicates that direct advertising practices may have led to increases in Medicare patient use and spending for at least some drugs, but that other factors—such as doctors’ prescribing decisions—likely played a role.

Drugmakers advertise drugs through television and other media to encourage patients to ask their doctors for specific medications. Manufacturers spent about $6 billion each year—for ...