This article is somewhat misleading.

There ARE laws, but they do not REQUIRE pharmacists to give a generic.... they ALLOW them to. We've had such a law for over 20 yrs now in my state.

I use generics for my meds. They work fine. Even the thyroid.
Some people who are fine tuned on a particular drug, will notice a switch and others not. This remains controversial, and some believe it is a placebo effect. Placebo effects are very high in drug utilization.

The two largest reasons for generics are:
1) the insurances encourage them to lower costs
2) Brand name prices are so high many cannot afford them.

Many brand name companies actually make your generic. Most people don't realize this either.

This is a huge issue, and I could write all day on it.

Edit to add: switching from a brand name to an equivalent generic (and most reputable pharmacies only use AB rated generics), is not the same as switching drug THERAPY. One must understand this.
Pharmacists in US cannot change the drug to a different drug, only from within the same drug for price considerations.

If you want to learn if your generic is AB rated, go to www.fda.gov
and type in Orange Book into the search in the upper right. Then select the first option from that search...Orange Book home.
It will take you to the list of approved generics for each drug and who makes them and their rating in the US. You can search by generic name or brand name, and be sure to choose the correct button before searching. There is no direct internet link to the Orange book, so you have to do it this way.
This is what a typical search looks like for topiramate (Topamax)
I find it is best to use the generic name when searching.