This recent article from Kaiser Health News details a lawsuit against pharmacies for over charging patients with job-based insurance for prescription drugs. We are starting to see more reporting on this long-term problem, which has been occurring for years. We first noticed this exact problem of huge differentials in prescription prices back in 2008 and it continues today.

The thing that would surprise people is that it doesn’t just happen some of the time, with some prescriptions, but that it happens most of the time with most prescriptions. On any particular day we can cite many examples from that day alone that should anger any reasonable person. Yesterday we helped a Redirect Health member avoid paying $268 using her insurance for a shingles medication when she was traveling in Napa. With our help, she paid only $23.29 – the right price.

It might surprise people to know that these very large price differentials exist for nearly every hospital service or surgery as well. Count on insurance companies to pay the higher end of the differential to the hospital with the greatest market share in all communities.

Complex price NON-Transparency is the root theme of America’s healthcare system woes today. Any employer who wants to make healthcare work for their company and their employees will need to solve this issue to succeed.