The Early Show: Medical Holiday Gift Cards

Movies like "Sicko" have brought America’s healthcare crisis to the forefront – people are being forced to go without the medical care that they need, even in life-threatening situations.  The Early Show covered a story that could make the season a little better. 

A lot of people give gift cards to friends and family (I know I do) but new medical gift cards could give them a whole new meaning. 

On Friday’s show, Jack Gillis of the Consumer Federation of America explained that "One of the things the company (Highmark, Inc.) is capitalizing on is the fact healthcare costs have gone through the roof.  More and more of us are in the sandwich generation. We would love to be able to somehow help our parents with some of their health care expenses, or our kids who are more and more not being covered by health insurance.

"So, the company is betting on the fact that we will be willing to spend a lot of money on these cards and give them to people that we care a lot about."

You can buy them in amounts from $25 to $5,000, whether or not the recipient has medical insurance.

He went on to say that the cards can be used to cover co-pay costs for doctor visits, vision care, dental care, health club memberships, elective procedures and prescriptions!

There is a drawback – they can also be used any place a Visa debit card is accepted, therefore, there is no guarantee that a person is going to use it for healthcare management.

If you would like to learn more about these medical gift cards, visit givewell.com.