Recent Trends in Medicaid Outpatient Prescription Drugs and Spending Author: Elizabeth Williams Published: Mar 12, 2026

https://www.kff.org/medicaid/recent-trends-in-medicaid-outpatient-prescription-drugs-and-spending/?utm_campaign=KFF-This-Week&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9OJYjDHIR3F7NJssHwRtz6VlzMbJX3bNwHfNNVms28vZf_68iWr7vLcti7yAeK8WXku5U2uNXemyIc63-u74tyyK486Q&_hsmi=408653873&utm_content=408653873&utm_source=hs_email In recent years, Medicaid spending on prescription drugs has grown, in part due to the emergence of new, high-cost drugs, including GLP-1s and cell and gene therapies that treat, and sometimes cure, rare diseases. There have been several recent Trump administration prescription drug initiatives (Box 1), including new payment models, that could help combat rising costs for state Medicaid programs, though questions remain about the implementation and impact of the deals. While lower prices for state Medicaid programs through the new models could result in reduced Medicaid prescription drug spending and potentially expanded coverage of certain drugs, the extent of the savings and how states or manufacturers will respond remain unclear. In most cases, Medicaid programs already pay lower prices, net of rebates, than other payers.