“Ms. Oliva, 60 years old, was diagnosed with a rare type of brain tumor earlier this year. She was prescribed a new drug to be taken in combination with radiation. The retail price of a one-week supply of the pill, called Temodar, is $1,272 (her co-payment was half–$637).

Ms. Oliva, who earns about $40,000 a year managing a clothing store in Long Beach Island, N.J., pulled out her American Express card that day in September and paid, unsure where she was going to find the money for the next week’s supply. Fortunately, the nurse at her doctor’s office found help for her from a charity, Patient Services Inc., which picked up her drug co-payments — $3,800 for a six-week course of treatment.

The twist: The money for her co-payments came from Schering-Plough Corp., the drug’s maker.

To cope with rising medical costs, insurers are requiring patients to pay higher premiums and co-payments for drugs. While poor uninsured patients can often get expensive medicine free from drug companies, people with insurance are increasingly finding it difficult to afford these drugs. In response, drug companies are giving money to charities that are specifically set up to help patients pay such costs.

Under this support system, drug-company money keeps patients insured — and keeps insurers paying for the high-priced medicine.

“It’s a win-win situation,” says Dana Kuhn, co-founder and president of Patient Services, a Midlothian, Va., charity, which solicits money from drug companies. “Patients are helped and companies are helped. They make a small contribution to help the patient and get much more money back when the insurer pays for the drug.”

Drug companies also often take a tax deduction for their donation.”

Now see, aren’t those drug companies nice guys too?

It’s not about what Mr. Witt pays for generic drugs or who he pays; it’s about what Mr. Witt charges his customers—a fair and reasonable markup, and not the exorbitant amount your company suggests.