Healthcare Gift Cards, Memberships, and Futures

Gift cards have become the popular holiday gift.  [Here is the money I was going to spend on you but since I don’t know exactly what you want, please go spend it on yourself.]  As copayments go up and consumers own more of their healthcare spending, I wonder how long it will be before we get healthcare gift cards.  Or maybe discount clubs that you join and get preferred pricing (i.e., Sam’s Club).  Or maybe big ticket items could be like stocks where you can hedge your bets.  Gift cards are definitely a reasonable probability.  The others may be too far fetched.

• A $50 gift card good at your local pharmacy.
• A gift card good for 2 visits to the clinic.
• A $100 gift card good for one visit to the ER.
• A annual “membership” good for up to 5 preventative visits at any physician or hospital within a certain network.
• An option to buy “futures”…purchase a transplant which costs $100,000 for $30,000 today based on your current health.