Credit Cards Offer Discounts on Medical Expenses

We all may get some help on the soaring cost of health insurance and prescription cost by a surprising source, our credit cards. : Even healthy consumers feel the pain of skyrocketing health-care costs. A family of four pays nearly $3,300 in insurance premiums each year, according to Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health policy and research firm. Tack on deductibles, co-payments, prescription drugs and uncovered services, and the bill is closer to $6,700. Some relief is being offered by a surprising source: credit cards. Now, consumers can earn cash for their health-savings accounts, and discounts on prescriptions, as well as dental and vision care by paying for their medical expenses with plastic. Bank of America offers two such credit cards. Citibank's card offers discounts of up to 60% on prescription drugs. HSBC is market testing a debit card linked to drugstore CVS's Extra Care rewards program. Even Target is in the game, offering a 10% discount coupon for every 10 prescriptions filled and paid for with your store credit card. : Used wisely, however, these cards can offer decent savings for cardholders. With the Citi Professional card (see chart), for example, an uninsured consumer could pay just $158.45 at CVS for a 60-dose disk of asthma med Advair and#8212; a 12% discount off the regular price of $180.99. Assuming the inhaler is used twice a day, the savings would come to $270.48 over the course of a year. With the Aetna Healthy Living card (see chart), the average $2,081 paid out of pocket to heal a compound leg fracture would garner a $25 rebate check. It appears that CVS Drugstore is one of the test markets for this.