Abstract:
A method comprises the steps of: receiving, at a host computer, a request from a provider for payment for a charge incurred by a purchaser; identifying a plurality of funding sources of the purchaser from which to draw funds for payment of the charge; and causing at least one of the plurality of funding sources to be debited for at least a portion of the purchasing amount of the item based on the payment authorization.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/697,514, filed Jul. 8, 2005, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to a healthcare savings account and payment system and, more particularly, to a system and a method for administering card-based healthcare savings account and provider payment plans. 
     2. Related Art 
     Fundamental changes are occurring in the healthcare industry with respect to expenditures by consumers. Healthcare expenditures in the U.S. are expected to increase from approximately $558 B in 1988 to approximately $3,361 B by 2013. It is projected that consumers will pay a larger share of those expenditures, from approximately 14% in 2001 to an expected 19% in 2010. 
     Section 125 of the United States Internal Revenue Code offers tax savings to employees for medical, dependent care and childcare expenses. Likewise, Section 132 of the United States Internal Revenue Code offers employees tax savings for work-related parking and transportation expenses. For example, employees may be entitled to tax benefits if the employees withhold a portion of their payroll to pay for medical, dependent care, childcare, work-related parking expenses and/or work-related transportation expenses. In other words, the employees&#39; payroll is taxed on the amount left after the withheld portion is subtracted from the payroll amount and the withheld portion is placed into a flexible spending account. 
     How consumers pay for healthcare expenditures also is changing. Presently, less than 20% of consumer healthcare payments is through use of “plastic,” which includes debit cards, charge cards, and credit cards. This percentage is expected to grow by over 10% in five years to approximately 30% by 2010. 
     Another fundamental change that is expected to occur in the healthcare industry is the increase in use of consumer-directed healthcare plans (“CDHPs”), which offer tax advantages to employers who offer such plans and, for some CDHPs, to employees as well. Three CDHPs of most interest include: the Flexible Spending Account (“FSA”); the Health Savings Account (“HSA”); and the Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangement (“HRA”). These different CDHPs are discussed in more detail below. 
     The shift towards CDHPs, while providing tax and other benefits to employers and/or employees, also entails significant administrative costs borne by the employers. These costs include, for example, the costs associated with maintaining individual accounts for each participating employee. Additionally, providers of healthcare goods/services often encounter significant delays in payment from CDHPs, due to the amount of time necessary to substantiate receipts and to determine the respective payment responsibilities of the insurers and the employees. 
     Given the foregoing, what is needed is a system and a method for administering CDHPs which minimize the administrative costs of employers and which facilitates the process for paying providers. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention meets the above-identified needs by providing a system and a method for facilitating a purchase utilizing a plurality of funding sources. The method comprises the steps of: receiving, at a host computer, a request from a provider for payment for a charge incurred by a purchaser; identifying a plurality of funding sources of the purchaser from which to draw funds for payment of the charge; and causing at least one of the plurality of funding sources to be debited for at least a portion of the purchasing amount of said item based on said payment authorization. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES 
       The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. 
         FIG. 1  schematically shows a conventional payment process; 
         FIG. 2  shows a payment process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  schematically illustrates an example of a payment process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  schematically illustrates another example of a payment process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  schematically illustrates an example of various steps performed by a provider, an insurer, and a financial institution in connection with a payment process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  schematically illustrates another example of various steps performed by a provider, an insurer, and a third party administrator in connection with a payment process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  schematically illustrates an arrangement used by an employer to implement a CDHP according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  schematically illustrates a communication arrangement of a computer-based system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  schematically illustrates an embodiment of the present invention implemented using a closed-loop network (as it relates to healthcare); and 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system useful for implementing the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While specific configurations and arrangements are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustrative purposes only. A person skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that other configurations and arrangements can be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the pertinent art that this invention can also be employed in a variety of other applications. 
     Terminology 
     The term “merchant” as used herein shall mean any person, entity, distributor system, software, and/or hardware that is a provider, broker, and/or any other entity in the distribution chain of goods or services. For example, a merchant may be a credit card issuer, a hotel chain, an airline, a grocery store, a retail store, a travel agency, a service provider, including, but not limited to, a medical service provider, an online merchant, or the like. 
     A “transaction account” as used herein refers to an account associated with an open account card or a closed account card system (as described below). The transaction account may exist in a physical or non-physical embodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed in non-physical embodiments such as an account number, frequent-flyer account, telephone calling account or the like. Furthermore, a physical embodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as a financial instrument. 
     “Open cards” are financial transaction cards that are generally accepted at different merchants. Examples of open cards include the American Express®, Visa®, MasterCard® and Discover® cards, which may be used at many different retailers and other businesses. In contrast, “closed cards” are financial transaction cards that may be restricted to use in a particular store, a particular chain of stores or a collection of affiliated stores. One example of a closed card is a card that may only be accepted at a clothing retailer, such as a Saks Fifth Avenue® store. 
     The term “transaction instrument” as used herein may include any type of open or closed charge card, credit card, debit card, FSA card, stored value card, an RFID chip based card or token, and the like. For convenience, a transaction instrument may be referred to as a “card.” 
     An “account,” “account number” or “account code”, as used herein, may include any device, code, number, letter, symbol, digital certificate, smart chip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric or other identifier/indicia suitably configured to allow a consumer to access, interact with or communicate with a financial transaction system. The account number may optionally be located on or associated with any financial transaction instrument (e.g., rewards, charge, credit, debit, prepaid, telephone, embossed, smart, magnetic stripe, bar code, transponder, radio frequency card or payment statement). 
     Persons skilled in the relevant arts will understand the breadth of the terms used herein and that the exemplary descriptions provided are not intended to be limiting of the generally understood meanings attributed to the foregoing terms. 
     It is noted that references in the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it would be within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. 
     Overview 
     This invention is a closed loop network used with the healthcare flexible spending account card (hereinafter the Healthcare card). The Healthcare card allows consumers the flexibility to pay for medical services directly from a health savings account. The health savings account is usually established through the consumer&#39;s employer and allows consumers to contribute pretax dollars to an account for the purposes of paying medical expenses. With the Healthcare card, medical bills may be paid directly without the need for the consumer to pay out of pocket expenses first and be later reimbursed. Additionally, the Healthcare card allows medical professions to bill the consumer&#39;s medical insurance upon use of the Healthcare card. 
     The closed loop network solves the problems presented by CDHC in addressing the potential for significant consumer bad debt facing medical service providers. By enabling the assured payment process, physicians can swipe a transaction instrument (or card) on the day that the healthcare services are provided and be confident that they will receive the appropriate amount for the patient payment amount post adjudication. One card and the systems behind it will handle the payment of the entire bill and from a card member&#39;s perspective, they will only be charged the appropriate amount based on their health plan coverage. 
     The closed loop network accesses multiple funding sources including a custodial account, an employer funded account, a manual claims system, a line of credit, and an insurance company payment system. Card readers at medical service provider facilities also communicate with the closed loop network. Because the financial institution owns and manages the closed loop network, they can set rules specific to healthcare transactions at medical provider locations in terms of setting the amount of time that settlement may be extended while the claim is adjudicated and adjust the treatment of card transactions submitted from these providers so a hold is placed on the funds as assurance to the physicians. 
     In addition, the financial instrument can also utilize the flexibility of the closed loop network to pass additional information along with the transaction, referred to as the Healthcare (HC) Addendum, to assist in verifying member eligibility for health plan coverage, as well as data fields that will assist in matching the submission hold with the adjudicated claim information. 
     In the HC Addendum, the financial institution can also utilize the flexibility of the closed loop network to transmit patient demographic information and populate a provider&#39;s practice management system. The HC Addendum allows for facilitation of healthcare claims financial transactions over the financial institution&#39;s closed loop network. It allows for both eligibility information and pre-population of fields from practice management systems through the card swipe. The HC Addendum will facilitate processing of payment to the provider along with the adjudication of claims. It allows for both real-time and batch processing of claims by estimating member liability. This can be done based on in or out-of network plan design information stored with the financial institution. 
     Further details of embodiments of this invention are described below. 
     EMBODIMENTS 
     In a typical FSA, which is the most established of the CDHPs, an employer deducts pre-tax dollars from an employee&#39;s paycheck to cover IRS-approved healthcare expenses, and the deducted amount is put in the employee&#39;s FSA. The employee pays for healthcare goods and/or healthcare services (“goods/services”) out of pocket, and submits a receipt for the goods/services for substantiation and reimbursement. A TPA reviews the receipt and confirms the purchase of the goods/services. Once confirmed, the TPA sends a reimbursement check to the employee and the TPA is reimbursed by the employer. Funds in the FSA that are not used by the employee by the end of the year are forfeited to the employer. TPAs have begun to offer debit cards to employees for payment of healthcare goods/services. These debit cards enable automation of some aspects of claims substantiation. 
     An HSA works in conjunction with an insurer&#39;s health insurance plan, which incorporates employee-paid deductibles. An employer and/or an employee contributes pre-tax dollars to the employee&#39;s HSA to cover IRS-approved healthcare expenses. The contributions are allowed to roll over from year to year and to accumulate tax free indefinitely. Funds in the HSA may be transferred from an investment account to a cash account to pay for expenses. When an HSA card or an HSA check is given to a provider for payment of healthcare goods/services, the provider submits a claim to the insurer. The insurer then determines the employee&#39;s share of the payment, withdraws the determined amount from the employee&#39;s cash account, and records that amount as part of the employee&#39;s deductible. 
     In a typical HRA, an employer contributes pre-tax dollars to an employee&#39;s HRA. Funds in the HRA may be used to pay for deductibles and/or out-of-pocket medical expenses, and may be used to replace existing healthcare benefits. The employer is allowed to determine factors such as: whether substantiation is required; an allowable annual roll-over amount; whether the HRA is to be fully funded at the beginning of the year; and particular goods/services that are not covered. The employee pays for healthcare goods/services out of pocket, and sends in a receipt for the goods/services for reimbursement, which is from funds in the HRA. 
       FIG. 1  schematically shows a conventional payment process, which is compared with a payment process according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in  FIG. 2 . Although the following description refers to the use of an HSA, the present invention may be practiced with an FSA or an HRA or any combination of the three types of CDHP accounts. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , in the conventional process, a provider (e.g., a doctor)  102  submits a claim for adjudication. For example, the claim may be for services rendered for an employee in the amount of $600. The adjudication process  104  makes a determination of the amount that the services are worth. In the current example, the claim for $600 is adjudicated to be worth $500. The employee&#39;s insurer  106  is notified of the adjudicated amount and, in turn, the insurer pays its share of the responsibility for the adjudicated amount to provider  102 . For example, if the employee has an unpaid $200 deductible or if the insurer is responsible for 60% of the adjudicated amount, then the insurer pays the amount of $300 to the provider. Provider  102  then sends the employee an invoice for the unpaid portion of the adjudicated amount. The employee then pays the provider using funds from his/her account  108 , typically comprising one or more of an HSA  108   a , an FSA  108   b , an HRA  108   c , or a private account  108   d.    
       FIG. 2  illustrates an aspect of the present invention in which the process of paying the provider is streamlined by use of a health card  202 . Health card  202  is administered by a financial institution, which coordinates contributions from the insurer  106  and the employee&#39;s account  108 . 
       FIG. 3  schematically illustrates an example of a payment process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated example, an employee visits medical service provider  102  for a $500 procedure. The employee uses health card  202  to pay for the procedure. Health card  202  is administered by a financial institution  302  (e.g., American Express Co., Inc., of New York, N.Y. or “AXP”). Provider  102  files a claim for the service. Adjudication process  104  determines the value of the service to be $400. Insurer  106  identified by health card  202  is notified and sends financial institution  302  information on the claim and the adjudicated rate. Financial institution  302  obtains funds to pay for the adjudicated rate from insurer  106  and/or from the employee&#39;s HSA  108   a . Preferably, HSA  108   a  includes a cash account  304  as well as an investment account  306 . In the example of  FIG. 3 , the employee is responsible for the entire adjudicated rate of $400. However, if each of the insurer and the employee are responsible for a portion of the adjudicated rate, the financial institution would obtain funds from each responsible party in amounts corresponding to their respective portions. Financial institution  302  then sends the obtained funds to provider  102 . 
       FIG. 4  schematically illustrates another example of a payment process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated example, an employee visits provider  102  and uses health card  202  to pay for services rendered at step  406 . Health card  202  is administered by financial institution  302 . Provider  102  swipes health card  202 , which initiates a communication to financial institution  302  at step  408  to perform an authorization process and to withhold payment until authorization is granted. Provider  102  also files a claim at step  410  with insurer  106  identified by health card  202 , and insurer  106  adjudicates the claim to be worth an adjudicated amount. Insurer  106  then transfers its share of the adjudicated amount at step  412  to financial institution  302 , along with other information regarding the claim and/or the employee, such as the claimed amount, the adjudicated amount, the employee&#39;s remaining deductible amount, etc. Financial institution  302  obtains funds to pay for the employee&#39;s share of the adjudicated amount by accessing at step  414  a custodial account  402  set up for the employee. Financial institution  302  settles the claim of provider  102  at step  416  using funds from insurer  106  and funds from the employee&#39;s custodial account  402 . 
     Custodial account  402  is a CDHP account and is a cash account that is funded by employer  417  contributions at step  418  and/or contributions from the employee at step  420 . In accordance with applicable laws and regulations, the employee contributions may be made via pre-tax payroll deductions. Any unused funds in the custodial account may be rolled over or transferred at step  422  into an investment account  404 . When funds are necessary for payment of an adjudicated amount, funds may be transferred back into custodial account  402  at step  424  from investment account  404 . Custodial account  402  is administered by a custodian, which may or may not be associated with financial institution  302 . In one embodiment, investment account  404  is administered by financial institution  302 . The custodian periodically provides the employee with a statement of financial transactions at step  426  involving custodial account  402 . Optionally, insurer  106  may send reports at step  428  to provider  102  explaining payments for claims, and may send reports at step  430  to employees explaining bills to their CDHP accounts. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, provider  102  sends a claim for the retail charge to insurer  106  for adjudication processing. Insurer  106  processes the claim and sends a file to financial institution  302 . 
     A settlement is generated by matching the retail charge with a hold placed on the cardmember&#39;s account in the amount of the retail charge, including an initial authorization number for the transaction (when available). Optionally, financial institution  302  may use the following fields as additional sources of verification for the transaction: cardmember/employee name and ID number, date of the claim, location (e.g., zip code of the provider&#39;s office), and Tax ID number of the provider. 
     On matching the claim, financial institution  302  reverses the original authorization and settles with provider  102  for the discounted (adjudicated) claim amount or the retail charge subject to other adjustments, if warranted. 
     Provider  102  receives an explanation of payment (“EOP”) from insurer  106  that includes the discounted claim amount, the retail charge, and claim number. The cardmember/employee receives an explanation of benefits (“EOB”) from insurer  106  including the retail claim amount, the discounted amount paid to provider  102 , and the claim number. The provider&#39;s statement and the member&#39;s statement both will include the claim numbers referenced above and reflect the discounted amount paid. 
       FIG. 5  schematically illustrates an example of the steps performed by provider  102 , insurer  106 , and financial institution  302  (referred to as “AXP” in  FIG. 5 ) in connection with a payment process. In this example, provider  102  has performed a service or procedure for the employee, and the cost of the procedure is $100. Because provider  102  is a member of a network of providers associated with the insurer, there is a 20% discount on the cost of the procedure. The employee is covered by insurer  106  for 50% of the cost of the procedure, and the employee has $30 in her HSA  108   a.    
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , provider  102  charges the employee $100 for the procedure at step  502 , which the employee pays using her health card  202 . Provider  102  swipes health card  202  at step  504  using a point-of-sale (“POS”) device, such as those commonly used by merchants for registering payments made with credit/debit cards, and the provider enters the charge of $100 on the POS device. A code on the health card is automatically read, either electrically, magnetically, optically, or a combination thereof. Optionally, as is well known in the art, if the code cannot be automatically read by the POS device, a numeric code on health card  202  can be manually entered on the POS device by provider  102 . The charge of $100 undergoes authorization processing and financial institution  302  holds payment for a period of time (e.g., five to fourteen days) at step  506 . Provider  102  also submits a claim for $100 to insurer  106  at step  508 . 
     At step  510 , insurer  106  determines that provider  102  is “in-network” and therefore the claim is entitled to a 20% discount, i.e., the adjudicated amount to be paid to the provider is $80. At step  512 , insurer  106  notifies financial institution  302  of the adjudicated amount and also determines that the employee is responsible for 50% of the adjudicated amount, or $40, at step  514 . Financial institution  302  releases the hold on the payment at step  516  and pays provider  102  $80 at step  518 . Insurer  106  pays financial institution  302  for its share of the adjudicated amount (i.e., $40) at step  520 , and sends a report at step  522  to provider  102  explaining the payment of the adjudicated amount. Insurer  106  also sends a report at step  522  to the employee explaining her share of the adjudicated amount, which is to be billed to her HSA  108   a . The employee&#39;s HSA  108   a  has $30 in cash, so financial institution  302  accesses HSA  108   a  at step  524  to obtain the $30 and also obtains the remaining $10 from a credit line associated with the employee. Financial institution  302  sends a report to the employee at step  526  explaining the financial transactions that occurred. 
     Optionally, some of the steps performed by the insurer and the financial institution may be performed by an external party, referred to as a TPA, as shown in  FIG. 6 . At step  602 , provider  102  swipes the employee&#39;s health card  202  on a TPA POS terminal, in a similar manner as described above. At step  604 , the TPA system verifies the employee&#39;s eligibility and determines deductible information. At step  606 , the TPA system pulls claim data from insurer  106 , identifies the managed care discount and determines the covered amount. At step  608 , the TPA system notifies insurer  106  of the amount of payment. At the same time, at step  610 , the TPA notifies financial institution  302  to pay provider  102  $80. At step  612 , insurer  106  pays financial institution  302  the covered amount ($40). At step  614 , the TPA system withdraws $30 from the employee&#39;s HSA  108   a  and $10 from the employee&#39;s credit line. At step  616 , insurer  106  sends a report to provider explaining the payment of the adjudicated amount and to the employee explaining her share of the adjudicated amount. At step  618 , financial institution  302  sends a statement of the financial transactions to the employee. 
     One of the advantages of associating an investment account with a CDHP account is that such an association provides the employee with flexibility in how funds designated for healthcare are managed. That is, the employee has control over whether the funds are maintained as cash or are invested in stocks, bonds, and/or other types of securities, which have the potential to grow in value. 
       FIG. 7  schematically illustrates an arrangement used by an employer to implement a CDHP according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the employer maintains a Master Account  702  in which all the funds for the employees are aggregately held. The Master Account includes a cash account  704 , which is FDIC insured, and an investment account  706 , which is not FDIC insured. The investment account allows for investment in a plurality of investment funds. Money and data are transferred between the cash account and the plurality of investment funds of the investment account on a periodic basis (e.g., hourly, daily, or weekly, etc.). 
     Funds in Master Account  702  are automatically obtained from the employees through payroll deduction and/or from the employer. A record keeper  708  maintains a record of each employee&#39;s individual CDHP account, including the allocation of the employee&#39;s funds to cash account  704  and investment account  706 , as well as the allocation of the employee&#39;s investment-account funds to the plurality of investment funds. 
     The present invention may be implemented using a computer system, which interconnects the employer, the insurer  106 , financial institution  302 , the employees or a combination thereof, as schematically shown in  FIG. 8 . The illustrated “Hearts System”  1002  is a centralized computer-based system that allows financial institution  302  to manage custodial accounts  402 , employer-funded accounts  1004 , manual claims  1010 , lines of credit  1006 , payments  1004  from insurers  106 , “card swipes” (i.e., requests for payments from providers)  1008 , etc. That is, financial institution  302  facilitates the transfer of funds between multiple sources. 
     Hearts System  1002  allows for the reconciliation of transactions from multiple funding sources with the use of a single health card  202 . System  1002  obtains funds from an appropriate funding source based on a hierarchy and a merchant/provider category code associated with each card. The various funding sources include any or all of an HSA  108   a , an FSA  108   b , an HRA  108   c , a line of credit  1006 , and a transit account  108   d . The merchant/provider category code determines how an expense is allocated based on the merchant type. This allows for specific funding buckets to be used for dental goods/services, and different specific funding buckets to be used for vision goods/services, for example. According to an aspect of the present invention, these funding sources may be established as special purpose HRAs, FSAs, or benefits paid under “Section 132” for transportation benefits. In this instance the employer would fund an account for such transactions and the financial institution would allocate money for the transactions as they occur by pulling funds via an Automated Clearing House (ACH) arrangement. 
     Financial institution  302  pulls funds from the employee&#39;s CDHP account for transactions that should be debited from the CDHP account. Account numbers for the employees are stored in Hearts System  1002  to allow information to be passed to ACH funds. 
     Another funding source that is accessible by Hearts System  1002  is an employee&#39;s line of credit  1006  which may be underwritten by financial institution  302 . According to the multiple-source funding arrangement of the present invention, financial institution  302  allows an employee (“cardmember”) to opt to have his line of credit tapped first as a funding source before tapping the CDHP account, for those cardmembers who wish to maximize the tax benefits of the CDHP account as a savings vehicle. 
     Manual claims that are funded from the employer or individual accounts are sent to financial institution  302  prior to approval by insurer  106  or a TPA. This allows the financial institution to adjust the balance in the appropriate funding source, thus preventing accounts from becoming overdrawn. 
     To assure payment of providers, when insurer  106  and financial institution  302  get together to arrange a card-based payment plan according to the present invention, a funding algorithm or multiple algorithms are established depending on the number of plan offerings. After provider  102  provides a healthcare service, provider  102  swipes the employee&#39;s health card  202  using a POS-type device, for example, and inputs the retail amount of the claim or charge for the service. Financial institution  302  processes the charge by running the algorithm, which determines the employee&#39;s out-of-pocket exposure or payment responsibility based on a number of variables, including:
         the employee&#39;s deductible amount;   the coinsurance percentage once the employee&#39;s deductible is met; and   an out-of-pocket maximum representing the maximum total liability of the employee.       

     A transaction is approved or declined based on the total funds available on the employee&#39;s health card, which takes into account the following: a line of credit, if approved; the HSA, if the member elects to include that as part of the bucket of funds for payment; and the insurer&#39;s portion of the payment. In one example, the financial institution queries the account balance of the HSA in real time during or immediately after the swipe to confirm whether funds are available. The financial institution places a hold on the funds, and settlement may not occur in the customary time period for ordinary retail merchants. The hold may be extended, based on a mutually agreed upon time period with the insurer, until the adjudicated claim information for the transaction is received from the insurer. Also, settlement may occur for a discounted amount and not for the fully amount claimed. 
     According to an embodiment, the present invention is implemented using a closed-loop network (as it relates to healthcare), the financial institution owns and manages the network, and the financial institution is the issuing bank for the health cards. As such, the financial institution is able to assure payment of providers via this closed-loop network. Additionally, the financial institution is able to set rules specific to healthcare transactions at provider locations, including setting the amount of time that settlement may be extended while a claim is adjudicated and adjusting the treatment of card transactions submitted from the providers so a hold is placed on funds as assurance to the providers. 
     Optionally, the financial institution utilizes the closed-loop network to pass additional information along with the transaction, to assist in verifying member/employee eligibility for insurance coverage, for example, as well as data fields that will assist in matching a hold on funds with information on an adjudicated claim. 
     This aspect allows for both eligibility information and pre-population of fields from a provider&#39;s Practice Management (PM) system from a card swipe. In addition, it facilitates processing of payment to the provider and adjudication of claims. It allows for both real-time and batch processing of claims by estimating member liability (based on in or out-of network plan design information stored by the financial institution). 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 9 , following the rendering of service, provider  102  swipes the cardmember&#39;s card through a POS device. At step  902 , the card number and other identifying information is transmitted to financial institution  302 . At step  906 , financial institution  302  retrieves the cardmember information from a database  904  maintained by financial institution  302 . Database  904  contains cardmember information generated by financial institution  302  as well as health care plan data and cardmember eligibility information provided by insurer  106  at step  908  and stored in database  904  at step  910 . At step  912 , financial institution  302  sends the cardmember plan data and eligibility to a practice management system (PMS)  914  maintained by provider  102 . At step  916 , provider  102  keys in the charge for the service performed and sends the charge to financial institution  302 . This charge may be a retail charge or it may be a charge based on the cardmember&#39;s plan data and eligibility information that was provided by financial institution  302  at step  912 . Upon receipt of the charge information, financial institution  302  places a hold on the cardmember account in the amount of the charge and sends an authorization code associated with the transaction to PMS  914  at step  918 . At step  920 , PMS  914  transmits a claim in the amount of the charge to insurer  106  along with the authorization code associated with the transaction generated by financial institution  302 . Insurer  106  adjudicates the claim and at step  922  sends the negotiated rate to financial institution  302  with the authorization code. Financial institution  302  matches the authorization code, reverses the hold on the cardmember&#39;s account and at step  924  settles with provider  102  for the negotiated amount. 
     This allows financial institution  302  to immediately determine how much of the negotiated amount to withdraw from the cardmember&#39;s account and how much is payable by insurer  106 . 
     This aspect of the invention allows for real-time claim substantiation and adjudication. It eliminates the need for a paper Explanation of Payments and accelerates cash flow for providers. It also reduces operating costs for health plans and eliminates the need for eligibility determination via phone or web inquiry. 
     Others have tried web-enabled solutions that allow for processing of claims but do not incorporate settlement of transactions or provide alternative sources for settlement on a real-time basis (e.g., line of credit (LOC)). This aspect of the present invention allows for adjudication and settlement for traditional insurance products as well as Consumer Driven Health Care (“CDHC”) products. By transmitting member and health plan data directly into the practice management system, a provider is able to identify at the time of service not only the correct negotiated rate through real time adjudication, but also the patient liability to appropriately charge the patient at the time of service. 
     If the health plan cannot provide updated pricing and deductible data to facilitate real-time adjudication, transmitting this information directly into the practice management system will assist the provider in electronic claims submission. By including the authorization code with the claim, this will facilitate the matching for the financial institution&#39;s assured payment process. 
     Another aspect of the invention involves incentives to the cardmember for using a health card. Specifically, the financial institution offers incentives to the cardmember for usage of a payment card that is linked to pre-tax accounts like healthcare FSAs or HRAs. Incentives are either structured based on usage of the card (per transaction) or based on the amount spent (per charge volume). These points would be accumulated over time, and when a certain threshold is reached they could be redeemed for specific goods or services. This concept can be further refined to offer varying levels of points based on eligible versus ineligible spend. This would be done through coordination between the card issuer and the TPA to share information regarding claims amounts processed for specific participants. Incentives are given at differing levels depending on the type of usage. For example, eligible spend that is automatically substantiated earns 2 points per $1 spent, eligible items that require manual substantiation earn 1 point per $1 spent, and ineligible spend earns 0 points. This feature helps to resolve the lack of correct usage of pre-tax programs by participants. 
     In fact, in one embodiment, the invention is directed toward one or more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. An example of a computer system  1000  is shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     Computer system  1000  includes one or more processors, such as processor  1004 . Processor  1004  is connected to a communication infrastructure  1006  (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, or network). Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplary computer system. After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the invention using other computer systems and/or architectures. 
     Computer system  1000  can include a display interface  1002  that forwards graphics, text, and other data from communication infrastructure  1006  (or from a frame buffer not shown) for display on display unit  1016 . 
     Computer system  1000  also includes a main memory  1008 , preferably random access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory  1010 . Secondary memory  1010  may include, for example, a hard disk drive  1012  and/or a removable storage drive  1014 , representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. Removable storage drive  1014  reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit  1018  in a well known manner. Removable storage unit  1018  represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storage drive  1014 . As will be appreciated, removable storage unit  1018  includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data. 
     In alternative embodiments, secondary memory  1010  may include other similar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into computer system  1000 . Such devices may include, for example, a removable storage unit  1022  and an interface  1020 . Examples of such may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other removable storage units  1022  and interfaces  1020 , which allow software and data to be transferred from removable storage unit  1022  to computer system  1000 . 
     Computer system  1000  may also include a communications interface  1024 . Communications interface  1024  allows software and data to be transferred between computer system  1000  and external devices. Examples of communications interface  1024  may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface  1024  are in the form of signals  1028  which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface  1024 . These signals  1028  are provided to communications interface  1024  via a communications path (e.g., channel)  1026 . This channel  1026  carries signals  1028  and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, an radio frequency (RF) link and other communications channels. 
     In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as removable storage drive  1014 , a hard disk installed in hard disk drive  1012 , and signals  1028 . These computer program products provide software to computer system  1000 . The invention is directed to such computer program products. 
     Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) are stored in main memory  1008  and/or secondary memory  1010 . Computer programs may also be received via communications interface  1024 . Such computer programs, when executed, enable computer system  1000  to perform the features of the present invention, as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable processor  1004  to perform the features of the present invention. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of computer system  1000 . 
     In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into computer system  1000  using removable storage drive  1014 , hard drive  1012  or communications interface  1024 . The control logic (software), when executed by processor  1004 , causes processor  1004  to perform the functions of the invention as described herein. 
     In another embodiment, the invention is implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware state machine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). 
     In yet another embodiment, the invention is implemented using a combination of both hardware and software. 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention (e.g., packaging and activation of other transaction cards and/or use of batch activation processes). Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. 
     In addition, it should be understood that the figures illustrated in the attachments, which highlight the functionality and advantages of the present invention, are presented for example purposes only. The architecture of the present invention is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized (and navigated) in ways other than that shown in the accompanying figures. 
     Further, the purpose of the following Abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to the scope of the present invention in any way.