Perhaps it's the same as with medical services? Note that providers won't typically tell you the cost of a procedure unless you give them your insurance. Don'

Perhaps it's the same as with medical services? Note that providers won't typically tell you the cost of a procedure unless you give them your insurance. Don't insurers have negotiated (lower) rates with providers? Also there's typically a relatively large deductible. I'm guessing that between the negotiated price and the deductible and the non-sense of the insurer choosing something against common sense there's actually money to be made off the patient. So if you're charged $1000 for an MRI and have to co-pay 200 and the negotiated cost is $200 you actually end up paying 100% of the actual cost. You can redo the math with whatever number, but the point is the percentage you think you're insured for is not real. If insurer asks you to buy a 10x more expensive drug while they have a much smaller negotiated price, they may end up paying less or actually making money.