Skyrocketing price tags for new drugs to treat rare diseases have stoked outrage nationwide . But sales of old , commonly used drugs cost the drug program billions of extra dollars in 2016 vs. 2015 , a comprehensive Health News data analysis shows . Eighty of the drugs -- some generic and some still carrying generic names -- proved more than two decades old .
Skyrocketing price tags for new drugs to treat rare diseases have stoked outrage nationwide. But hundreds of old, commonly used drugs cost the Medicaid program billions of extra dollars in 2016 vs. 2015, a Kaiser Health News data analysis shows. Eighty of the drugs -- some generic and some still carrying brand names -- proved more than two decades old.