We all know that the best affordable health insurance policies are able to keep their costs down because they only cover generic drugs. However, what are consumers to do if there aren't any generics available to them?

The FTC released news this week that in 2007 pharmaceutical companies brokered deals with generic drug companies to delay the release of 14 medications that were about to reach the end of their patent. As such, those drugs won't be offered to consumers at lower, generic prices for a longer period of time.

And what's the point of searching for more affordable health insurance if you still have to pay out of pocket for important medications?

According to Kaiser, these deals are called "pay-for-delay" settlements, because big drug makers pay generic companies not to release the medications, even though legally they could. And obviously, they hurt the consumer by forcing us to pay higher prices for medications.

Fortunately, in most cases those expensive medications aren't that much better than generics that are already out there. If you're one of those people waiting for your medications to go generic, and find that it's not going to happen, speak to your doctor about generic medications that are just as good, but maybe not as popular or widely prescribed.

This way consumers can get their important medications, and their affordable health insurance can really be affordable too.