A family friend has to take some medication for her heart (she has a congenital valve defect). She has insurance and even with it paying for the medication, after the first of the year, to had nearly doubled in price, up to nearly $50/month and she doesn't make all that much money. Well earlier in the week she was complaining to her doctor about the increase in cost and he suggested that she ask the druggist what the price would be if she just paid for it herself. So when she went in later in the week she discovered that if she just ignored her insurance she could buy the same exact medication for just under $4. When she asked the druggist about where the difference went, he said that it goes to the insurance company since all they can claim as their portion of the transaction is the retail price, that is the $4 amount.
Now I have to ask, how is this possible? How can the insurance companies set the price to be 10 times higher than retail if it's one of their insured who's buying the drug.
OCU
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