Citigroup Inc. on Nov. 9 introduced the Citi Flu Care card, a one-time-use Visa debit card the issuer says may dramatically reduce corporations’ cost to provide flu shots and other vaccinations to employees.
Employers may equip employees with the flu card, usable only at one of 17,000 participating pharmacies nationwide, for an authorized flu shot or vaccination.
When customers receive a vaccination at a participating pharmacy, special “inventory coding” assigned to the card immediately authorizes payment for the vaccination, guaranteeing no one may use card for any other type of purchase. The coding restricts the payment to certain pharmacies within a specific time period. This season the Flu Care card program runs through Feb. 1.
The new card, which uses patent-pending technology, is a departure from typical prepaid debit cards commonly used to pay for health care procedures. Such cards require employers to load value into card accounts ahead of time and can result in misspent funds or leftover value employers may not recapture, Citi says.
Pharmacy-administered vaccinations are also less expensive than those delivered through other channels, Citi says. Flu shots administered at pharmacies typically cost $30 each compared with vaccinations at doctors’ offices and clinics, which typically cost about $83 each, Andy Radlow, Citi vice president of health management, tells PaymentsSource.
“Employers’ savings in administering flu shots through pharmacies could be tremendous compared with going through hospitals and clinics, and companies won’t have to tie up millions of dollars on prepaid cards before employees actually get their shots,” Radlow says.
Offered through Citi’s Global Transaction Services unit, the card so far is designed only for vaccinations, but Citi could expand it to cover other employer-sponsored heath care services through pharmacies, such as basic diagnostics and employee drug tests, Radlow says.
Employers would pay Citi a fee to offer the card to employees. So far “a number of Fortune 100 companies” are adopting the flu card for this season, Radlow says, but he declined to name them.
Pharmacies that have agreed to support the card include CVS Caremark Corp.’s CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid Corp., Target Corp. and pharmacies at the Kroger Co.
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