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Gift cards offer to cut health costs

A rack of health care gift cards are shown at a CVS store. Several health care companies are rolling out gift cards similar to those offered by retail stores and restaurants. Some can be used to pay bills or insurance premiums while others give holders discounts on specific services or purchases.Courtesy of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (Courtesy of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida)
Suzette Laboy Associated Press
A rack of health care gift cards are shown at a CVS store. Several health care companies are rolling out gift cards similar to those offered by retail stores and restaurants. Some can be used to pay bills or insurance premiums while others give holders discounts on specific services or purchases.Courtesy of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (Courtesy of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida)

MIAMI – Health care providers are rolling out a different sort of stocking stuffer: Gift cards that can be used to pay bills and insurance premiums or for specific services at eye doctors and dentist offices.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida might have the largest program, selling cards at over 1,000 Winn-Dixie and CVS stores in the state. The providers selling them say they can make a good gift, but industry observers say some cards may not be right for many consumers.

“The person can make the decision on where to use it. That is really the gift of it,” said Sue Allen, a spokeswoman for Holy Family Memorial Health Network, a Wisconsin hospital and clinic chain that sells gift cards.

In the Blue Cross Blue Shield program, with a $19 card, recipients save 10 percent to 50 percent on braces, dentures, crowns, fillings, oral surgery and cosmetic dentistry; 20 percent off brand name and generic medications through most major pharmacies; and 10 percent to 60 percent on eye exams, glasses and contacts.

Its $59 card can be used to help pay a premium or toward access to health insurance.

Some other gift card examples:

•Holy Family Memorial sells a card that can be used toward everything from a hospital bill to a purchase at its gift shops. The network has sold nearly 2,500 cards since late last year.

•Complete Compassionate Care in Michigan, a home health care provider, sells gift cards to cover its services, especially during the holidays. But some are “raffled or given out to those who actually need it,” spokeswoman Bonnie Williams said. One woman who won a $100 gift card at a recent Alzheimer’s Association event was able to hire a caregiver for four hours to help with her husband, who suffers from the disease.