A recent article written in a joint effort by The New York Times and ProPublica highlights some of the struggles that more and more Americans are dealing with when they go to the pharmacy to fill their prescriptions. Today, generic drugs are still largely the products preferred by insurance companies and, therefore, by the patients who rely on their insurance companies to help cover much of the costs paid for their prescriptions.

However, many drug companies who produce original brand name versions of these drugs have begun employing strategic methods of combating their generic-producing competitors. Many such methods include offering discounts to insurance companies and middleman drug sellers for favoring their brand name products over generic versions. Discounts, however, rarely trickle down to the patient who is then forced to pay more money out-of-pocket for brand name prescriptions. Check out the article to find out more about how to combat paying more money for your prescriptions and to get a better understanding of the oftentimes convoluted world of prescription drugs.