Just because a prescription is covered by insurance doesn’t meanthat you’ll be paying less for them. In fact, you might bepaying more, according to a New York Times/ProPublica report. The review found Americans may be overpaying for as much as one in every 10prescriptions by using their insurance instead of seeking out analternate source and paying cash.

The report said that the “shocking” revelation that individualscan do better for themselves than the drug prices negotiated by their insurers is revealing aproblem that is far more complex than “the seemingly simple act ofbuying a bottle of pills.” It adds, “[A] host of players—drugcompanies, pharmacies, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers—aretaking a cut of the profits, even as consumers are left to fend forthemselves.”

There aren’t any national statistics to indicate just how oftenthis becomes a problem, it points out, although it cites MichaelRea, chief executive of Rx Savings Solutions,estimating that the number may be as many as 10 percent of all drugtransactions. “If true nationwide,” it adds, “that figure couldtotal as many as 400 million prescriptions a year.”