Insurance companies charge patients more in co-pays than medicines actually cost, study finds

Pill bottles.
(Image credit: iStock.)

You might be paying more in co-pays than your medication actually costs.

In a new study published Tuesday in the medical journal JAMA, researchers found that out of the 9.5 million claims for prescription medication in 2013, insurance companies charged more than the base price for the drug in 2.2 million cases. Patients were overcharged for generic drugs 28 percent of the time, the study found, and for brand name drugs 6 percent of the time — for a grand total of $135 million in overpayments.

The average overpayment was only about $7.69, and only 17 percent of overpayments were for more than $10. But the extra charges are still harmful, particularly on "patients who struggle to afford their prescription drugs" in the first place, Karen Van Nuys, the lead author of the study, told Reuters.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The researchers also found that some pharmacists were barred from volunteering this price difference to patients by "gag clauses," Reuters reported. Though these contracts are outlawed in several states, the responsibility may still fall on patients to make sure they're getting the best price for their medication, as pharmacists can reveal any discrepancies if patients ask about pricing first. Read more about the study at Reuters.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.