Physician Assistant
129,444 Medicare Part D prescribers, $16.88B in drug costs.
Data: CMS Medicare Part D, 2023 (most current available) · Updated March 2026
129,444
Prescribers
$16.88B
Drug Cost
104,381,176
Claims
$130K
Cost/Provider
53,604
Opioid Prescribers
21.3%
Avg Opioid Rate
14.5%
Avg Brand %
945
Flagged
🔎 Data Overview
Physician Assistant represents 9.4% of all Medicare Part D prescribers, making it one of the largest prescriber groups in the program.
Average opioid prescribing rate of 21.3% is significantly elevated. While some specialties (pain management, anesthesiology) legitimately prescribe opioids at high rates, this figure deserves context about the specialty's typical patient population.
This specialty accounts for $16.9B in Medicare Part D costs — 6.1% of total program spending. Understanding where this money goes is key to controlling healthcare costs.
Insights generated from CMS data analysis. Statistical patterns are not accusations — always consider clinical context.
Top States for Physician Assistant
| # | State | Providers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 149 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | 125 |
| 3 | North Carolina | 121 |
| 4 | New York | 94 |
| 5 | Florida | 77 |
| 6 | Michigan | 76 |
| 7 | Arizona | 73 |
| 8 | Ohio | 67 |
| 9 | Colorado | 66 |
| 10 | Illinois | 65 |