This is, IMHO, the biggest single problem with health care in the USA.
There is no transparency on the cost of nearly everything, so the consumer can't shop around.
Well you do have to realize what you can shop around for...as for prescriptions if you pay cash, you can call any and each pharmacy and find out what their price is. If you have insurance you have to know what your plan pays.
In general...
If you have a flat copay i.e. $40 for brand name meds, you are going to pay $40 for your Lipitor no matter where you go b/c the cash price is going to be over that everywhere. If Walgreens says their Lipitor is $110 and CVS says $95 you still pay $40. You might say, well if I go to Walgreens, my insurance gets charged $15 extra. That isn't the case b/c your insurance company has a contracted price they are going to pay for Lipitor no matter what the cash price is, let's say it is $98. Walgreens gets paid $58 ($98-40 copay) and CVS gets paid $55 ($95-40 copay)because the insurance takes the lower of the two (cash price vs. contract price).
Now where you can save money is shopping on the generics. If you have a $10 generic copay and your Lisinopril is $4 at Wal-Mart or $15 at Walgreens, you can get it for $4 at Wal-Mart, then you *should* pay the $4 even if you run it through insurance (99% of insurance companies will charge you the lower of your copay or the cash price).
Or you will pay $10 at Walgreens b/c their cash price is higher than your copay (unless the insurance price is contracted for lower, which doesn't happen very often on generics, this is how chains make up for what they feel like they are being screwed on brand name drugs). For a savings to you of $6 by going to Wal-Mart.
Having said that, it is my opinion that you find the one pharmacy that has the best overall prices (and service) and go there. You want to keep all your prescriptions at one pharmacy so they can continually check for drug interactions.
So to swing back on topic, Trombone Al should pay his contracted price through BC if he gets his shingles vaccine through Rite Aid ($200 cash price) or Walgreens ($220 cash price).