Medagate launches first dual network healthcare spending card

ATLANTA — Medagate, a wholly owned subsidiary of InComm Holdings, on Monday announced the launch of the MasterCard Dual Value Health Card, the first dual network healthcare spending card. The Dual Value Health Card enables employers and health plans to combine a member/employee healthcare funding purse with a restricted-spend purse for targeted items and incentives.

“Effective participation in wellness programs requires advanced functionality and deeper levels of member engagement," commented David Wade, president of Medagate. "The drive toward rewarding healthy behavior will be accommodated by a new generation of customizable payment tools linked to familiar debit and prepaid cards that provide instant rewards and discounts at the point of sale,” he said. “Our experience in Medicare and Medicaid markets has shown that the availability of a targeted benefit can have a measurable impact on health behavior.”

By combining MasterCard’s payment network with InComm’s closed-loop payment system, the Dual Value Health Card can be swiped at the point of sale and routed to an open-loop or closed-loop processor, allowing the cardholder to offer payment on eligible items while simultaneously receiving targeted incentives, all in real time and right at the POS.

There are a multitude of product opportunities provided by the Dual Value Health Card. For instance, it can act as a defined contribution purse funded as a tax-deferred savings option such as a Health Savings Account, Health Reimbursement Arrangement or Flexible Spending Account. With the Dual Value Health Card benefits administrators can add a closed-loop network to fund general purchases or direct spending to an individual product or SKU number.

For example, administrators can designate spending for certain items, such as flu shots, prenatal vitamins or smoking cessation products. Retailers and benefit providers can also offer coupons or special promotions to specific populations (for example, allergy sufferers on the first day of hay fever season). Funds and items on defined contribution and controlled spend lists can be reloaded and redefined at any time.

“We believe the Dual Value Health Card will play an important role in the future of wellness initiatives while driving additional foot traffic to our retail partners’ store locations,” noted Brooks Smith, president and CEO of InComm. 

DSN last month had an opportunity to speak about Medagate's new 2.0 restricted-spend platform available through Fred's Super Dollar Stores as well as the evolution of incentive programs. To have a listen click here. 

Smartphone users can access the mp3 here. 

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