Blue Cross gave debit cards to members, but the plan excluded small NC pharmacies
Small independent pharmacies say they’ve been left out of the retailer network in which Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina members can use special debit cards to pay for a range of over-the-counter items.
As a result, Blue Cross NC members who are customers at family-owned and independent pharmacies can’t spend from $100 to $500 at their local providers, and instead have to turn to pharmacies at in-network chain stores and big box retailers.
Over $200 million in pre-loaded “health and wellness” cards were doled out to eligible members to pay for “health, wellness, and household expenses, including food, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” the Durham-based insurance company said in September.
But local pharmacists are disappointed that they weren’t initially included in the network, in which cards can be used by the more than 600,000 members who received them in October and November.
“It’s just money walking out the door,” said Darius Russell, owner of Russell’s Pharmacy & Shoppe in Durham, who owns a card himself but can’t use it at his own business.
Russell and other pharmacists reached by The News & Observer lament the business lost from their card-holding patients who have to go next door to chain stores like CVS, Walgreens and Walmart to buy vitamins, foods, baby care items and more. The cards can’t be used to pay for prescription drugs, insurance premiums, tobacco, alcohol or firearms, according to InComm.
“There’s probably a couple thousand dollars that [my customers] have that I could be using in my pharmacy and yet they can’t because they don’t have the capability,” Russell said.
Russell attempted to enter the card’s retailer network and was told by Blue Cross NC that he would need to purchase card reader equipment. Russell said he was on the phone for hours with Blue Cross NC and with the card’s third-party vendor, InComm Payments, with no clear solution given to him.
Other pharmacists haven’t had luck, either.
Prasanna Bafna, pharmacist at Southpoint Pharmacy in Durham, said he spent around 15 hours back and forth on the phone calling several numbers while trying to deal with the issue.
“It’s just been a runaround,” said Bafna in an interview. “I thought it was becoming too much and just needed to calm down. And I just kind of gave up.”
Confusion over Blue Cross retail cards
Both Russell and Bafna were left unclear — and frustrated — on exactly how to apply to enter into the network, with both Blue Cross and InComm giving contradicting information on how to get into the network, they said.
Blue Cross NC spokeswoman Jami Sowers told The N&O in an email that they were in talks with independent retailers about integrating them into the network, which was established by InComm.
Radhakrishnan said the cards were misleading at best, since “independent pharmacies” are vaguely listed by InComm as part of their network.
“The InComm Healthcare team has not received any concerns or complaints from independent pharmacists, and we have not recently declined any independent retailers in North Carolina from joining our retail network,” InComm spokesman Anthony Popiel said in an email.
Popiel said retailers can apply online within the company’s site.
InComm’s website says independent retailers need to purchase a $250 card reader, in addition to a 2.5% processing fee, applicable to all eligible items purchased and a $1 fee per purchase.
In all, the approval process can take independent pharmacies 40 days from the application submission to receive the card reader.
Senthil Radhakrishnan, who oversees Raleigh Pharmacy and Clayton Pharmacy in Johnston County, said he’s reluctant to try to enter the network because he’d need to pay for the equipment for both of his stores to process the cards.
“Yeah, it’s a potential loss of business,” Radhakrishnan said. But if he has to pay for equipment plus fees, Radhakrishnan said he is unsure if it’s worth it.
The issue is chalked up to small businesses falling through the cracks, said Malli Hadimani, pharmacist at Tarheel Town Pharmacy in Carrboro. Hadimani never received information on the cards before his customers showed up trying to use them.
“I’m in the preferred network with Blue Cross Blue Shield and even then the cards don’t work,” he said.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 2:37 PM.
