I stumbled across this on The Wall Street Journal and was a tad puzzled. I'm Canadian (free health care) so this kind of thing is a slightly odd to me. Seems Pittsburg health insurer Highmark Inc is selling a Healthcare Visa Gift Card. It can be pre-loaded with any amount from $25 to $5,000 to cover elective surgery, contact lenses, gym memberships and even prescription co-payments.
You can only get them online or by toll-free number and you can only use them at providers or merchants that Visa deems as health related. Oh and there's a $4.95 shipping and handling fee too.
Highmark expects to sell "several hundred thousand" gift cards, mostly between $75 and $100, during the next year, Mr. Bellard said.
Comment Preview