There are approximately 110 million Americans who have no insurance or who are underinsured.  This number is expected to grow with the removal of 15 million Americans from welfare roles this next year. This segment of the population will soon have a money-saving option for some basic health services.

On April 1, 1999, Rockport Preferred, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rockport Healthcare Group, Inc., will introduce their new medical access savings cards in the Houston, Texas area. The cards will be marketed under the names “MAS” and “MAS Plus”.  MAS has a double meaning: an acronym for Medical Access Savings, and it means ‘more’ in Spanish. 

The new service is provided at two levels: the “MAS” card provides discounts on prescriptions, vision, dental, hearing and chiropractic as well as providing access to a 24-hour NurseLine service, which allows members to access a nurse for information and assistance. It has an annual fee of $120 per year per household.  The “MAS Plus” card will have all of the benefits cited above, but additionally provides access to physicians.  It carries a fee of $180 per year per household.  The card will also be marketed as “PassPort” and “PassPort Plus”, and can be named and tailored for employer groups and associations under a private label.  The cards are renewable annually, and are available directly to the public, or through employer groups.

One of the most attractive features of the medical access savings card is that it requires no paperwork on the part of either the member or the provider.  Cardmembers will automatically receive a deduction of up to 30% on applicable basic service fees.  In addition, the Rockport program has a variety of purchase plans:  single payment, three payments, or monthly payments.  Partial payments may be paid in cash or by credit card only.

Nationwide, more than half of the doctors (approximately 300,000) and 40,000 retail pharmacies are participating in the program.

Even if you have medical insurance, your particular plan may have inadequate pharmacy, vision or dental provisions.  This program could be the perfect supplement.

Additional information on the Rockport Healthcare Group is available by contacting their Web site www.rockporthealthcare.com, or by calling them at 713-621-9424. When the program becomes effective, check their Web site for a new email address.