It is hard to believe, but in some cases, the cost of a  prescription is less than the co pay.  A March 2018 study in JAMA  found that for 1 in 5 prescriptions, insurers required people to pay more for their medication with insurance than what they would pay if they simply paid the pharmacy’s retail price. For example a prescription for a common steroid, prednisone , often used to treat poison ivy, costs $4.84 at Walgreens if you use a coupon.  The co pay price?  Usually twice as much.

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To make sure you don't pay more than you have to do, know what your co - pay is;  do a quick internet search for coupons at Good Rx or a similar site and see which is less the co pay or the price of  the medicine.  On average 20% of time it will be cheaper to pay for the prescription than to pay the co pay.  Just make sure you tell the Pharmacist you want to pay cash for the medicine and not use your co pay.

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The shame is your Pharmacist knows that all too often the co pay is more than the price of the medicine, but the drug company doesn't allow the Pharmacist to let you know.   

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For more information read this article by Consumer Reports.

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