A followup to this thread - last week while waiting to see my urogyno, the Pfizer rep came in and we started talking about these
rebate/assistance programs. I asked her why they have become so prevalent in the last year or so.
According to her, the drug mfgs. have always rebated this money out of their profits, but they gave it to the insurance companies, with the intent it would help to contain costs for the insured patient.