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New Florida law expected to save consumers money at the pharmacy

Until a new Florida law took effect Sunday, patients may have been paying a lot more than needed with health insurance companies pocketing the difference.

Insurance co-pays typically make the cost of medication and treatment cheaper. However, this isn't always the case and until a new Florida law took effect Sunday, patients may have been paying a lot more than needed with health insurance companies pocketing the difference.

The Prescription Drug Pricing Transparency law now requires pharmacists to inform customers of their cost-sharing obligation exceeds the retail price of the prescription.

For example, a copay for a patient may be set at $50, but if the medication costs $30 the remaining $20 would go back to the health insurer.

Credit: WTLV

Florida resident Brigette Allison said she's shocked to learn an insurer could keep the money in the past.

"It should go back in my pocket, because it's over the amount and it's my money," Allison said. "If I'm getting cheated out of money and I don't even know about and they're still charging me a high copay, that's not right, especially for elderly people."

As of July 1, the new law keeps insurance companies from banning a pharmacist from sharing cost information with a customer.

"Most patients assume that their share of cost of that prescription will be less than the actual retail cost of the prescription (or the non-insured cash price) of the drug," the Florida Senate bill analysis reads. "One recent New York Times article cited a statistic that for up to 10 percent of drug transactions, the patient could have gotten a better price without an insurance card for a prescription than with his or her coverage."

Florida state Senator Robert Bradley of Orange Park is on the Banking and Insurance committee that introduced the Senate Bill 1494 to stop the practice.

The bill that passed in March also requires pharmacists to inform customers about less expensive, generically equivalent drugs.

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