MasterCard, bank team up to offer prepaid Rx card

Drug Store News, Dec 16, 2002

PURCHASE, N.Y. -- MasterCard International has teamed up with The PrivateBank and Trust and The Macaluso Group, a pharmaceutical marketing firm, to launch what it calls a pioneering card product for use by patients, physicians and pharmacists.

The so-called Prepaid Pharmacy Maestro Card is an automated payment system designed for use with specific medications. MasterCard called the new card "a convenient alternative to the current practice of physicians providing product samples or coupons to their patients."

Its backers claim the new incentive card "helps patients save money on prescriptions" by eliminating copay reimbursement hassles and out-of-pocket payments at the pharmacy. The new card also will "streamline payment processing for pharmacists and alleviate the need for doctors to provide medication samples to patients," according to MasterCard.

Bill Mathis, senior vice president of member relations for the company, called the collaboration "an innovative payment program to defray medication costs for cardholders, and simplify the payment process for everyone involved."

The cards will be issued by The PrivateBank and distributed by the Macaluso Group to select physicians, who then present them to patients when issuing a prescription for the specific medication that is associated with the card. At the pharmacy, pharmacists will swipe the card electronically to process the prescription and obtain payment.

"The Prepaid Pharmacy Maestro Card provides a secure, cost-effective and easy payment method for physicians, pharmacists and patients," said Macaluso Group founder and chief executive Joe Macaluso. "Pharmacists can monitor the medications more closely, while patients save on medical costs and can take advantage of the extensive acceptance of the Maestro brand."

This isn't the first product from MasterCard aimed at the health care market In 1999, the company allied with Med-i-Bank and Key Bank to launch a prepaid card for use by members of health benefit plans with flexible savings accounts. Some 400,000 patients now use the firm's FSA card, according to MasterCard.