Yesterday, my wife went to get a prescription filled. She'd purposely had the prescription written up for a "generic" version of the drug to keep costs down. When she went to pick it up, the pharmacy told her that IHC wouldn't pay for the generic, so we had the option of paying for it ourselves ($30, not applied to our prescription drug deductable), or getting the brand name drug ($50, applied to our deductable).

I can only guess that IHC has gotten a lower price on the brand name drug by agreeing not to pay for the generic, but who is this serving? It costs IHC more than the generic would. It only saves us money if we meet our deductable and they pay for enough of it to make up the $20 extra we paid each time before meeting the deductable. And even then, the fact that IHC is paying more must be finding it's way into our premiums.

Okay, so I just had another thought--IHC must have been able to get a better price on a variety of drugs from the same manufacturer, including some that don't have generic equivalents, by agreeing not to pay for the generics where they do exist.

Maybe IHC isn't busted. But it sure felt busted yesterday.