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Unique Prepaid Prescription Discount Card Offered by Blackstone

Nationwide Card Claims Consumers Save Up To 40% On All Prescriptions

Miami, Florida – July 14, 2003 – A unique prepaid prescription discount card that can be used at almost all pharmacies has been introduced by Blackstone, a pioneer of the prepaid telecommunications industry.

According to Janet Sancho, Blackstone’s director of business development, “This is an ideal product for our merchants as the target market for this product is not only the traditional prepaid consumer, but also those consumers without insurance or without prescription drug coverage, such as the unemployed, budget conscious, college students and the elderly”.

The prepaid (Rx) prescription discount card can be purchased for only $9.95 and is good for 60 days of household prescription drug coverage, plus diabetic supplies, diabetic devices and insulin on prescription. Consumers can save up to 40% on all prescriptions at over 50,000 pharmacies nationwide. Services are to be provided through PSDT and NPAX, who for the past six years have helped consumers save millions annually on their prescription costs.

“Initially, we will begin rolling out this product via e-PIN delivery using the Blackstone POS and The Prepaid One Stop, our self-service interactive kiosk.  In approximately 4-6 weeks, we will begin offering the prepaid prescription discount product in the traditional hanging card format.  At the same time, at $9.95 retail, the discount card is priced so that any consumer who needs coverage can afford it”, adds Sancho.

A pioneer of the prepaid telecommunications industry, Blackstone (www.blackstoneonline.com) is currently one of the country’s largest providers of prepaid products and services through over 300,000 retail locations nationwide.  Established and headquartered in Miami, Florida since 1995, Blackstone provides innovative solutions to local, national and international companies seeking to maximize their full potential – from calling cards, POS terminals, merchant processing, marketing & distribution to self-service, interactive kiosks – Blackstone offers a complete array of services to design, integrate and maintain high-impact, strategic business solutions via our global network of alliances and resources. 

For more information on Blackstone’s products and services visit www.blackstoneonline.com or call 1-800-639-9590.

Blackstone POS are trademarks of Blackstone Communications Co.; US and foreign patents pending.

Retail Pre-Paid (Rx) Prescription Card Overview

Description                  A single, low priced pre-paid (Rx) prescription card product that, upon activation, is good for 60 days of household prescription coverage at over 50,000 pharmacies nationwide.  The consumer activated the prescription discount service with a simple toll-free call after leaving the store; thereby eliminating any burden on the retailer to collect the customer's personal and mailing address information.

The Offer                     Consumers purchase the pre-paid prescription card from the retailer for the single low price of $9.95.  Consumers will save up to 40% on qualified prescriptions.

                                    The card is positioned as, "60 days of household coverage."

                                    To activate the pre-paid prescription card, the consumer will be instructed to place an activation call to a toll-free number (available 7x24x365).  During the activation call, the consumer will be asked questions to provide coverage information.

                                    The length of the prescription coverage will be 60 days to accommodate the pre-paid pricing structure.  Rather than fixing long-term coverage, which is customary, we instead fix the price point.  We believe fixing the price brings genuine simplicity to this execution - for the consumer and the retailer.  Only a single SKU and one physical card are required to sell prescription discount coverage to our 50,000 pharmacies.

                                    A toll-free number is provided to make inquiries to locations and coverage easy.  Additional information is available on-line at NPA.com.

Benefits                       Allows the retailer to tap into the significant demand for an economical, purchase as you need, household prescription coverage among its customers.

                                    Important stats:

-          U.S. consumers spend $  billion a year on prescriptions.

-          % of all U.S. households do not have prescription coverage, demonstrating the impressive demand for this type of service.

-          The average U.S. household spends more than $ per year on prescriptions.  This demonstrates the significant demand per household for this product.

-          Several target markets including the elderly, unemployed, newly employed, budget conscious, travelers, special ethnic groups, college students, and many more need and want prescription coverage.

Established Service Provider.  Founded over 20 years ago, NPA is the nations largest truly independent benefit management company.

English/Spanish.  Two versions are available to meet the demands of your demographics.

Guaranteed Sale.  We believe so much in this product that we will guarantee sale of the product (minimum 120 days product sale exposure).

Simplicity.  The pre-paid card format allows the retailer to sell prescription coverage as it would any other single SKU pre-paid product.

Non-Perishable Inventory.  Unlike other pre-paid products, the pre-paid prescription card has a long shelf-life, since the customer is not using the service until the activation step.

No Technology Requirements.  Since the pre-paid card is sold as a single SKU in exchange for any accepted payment instrument and activation is handled once the consumer gets home (rather than at checkout), there is no impact on the POS systems.  If POSA is required, programs are available.   

ABOUT NPA

                        National Prescription Administrators, Inc. (NPA), the nation's largest truly independent prescription benefit management company (PBM), is located in East Hanover, NJ. Founded and operated by pharmacists since 1978, NPA sets industry standards in claim administration, customer service, utilization management, and cost containment.

To fulfill our Mission Statement, NPA specializes in the administration and management of prescription benefit programs, vision programs through its National Vision Administrators (NVA) division, dental programs through its National Dental Administrators (NDA) division, and mail order prescription services through its exclusive prescription mail service company, Central Fill Inc. (CFI). Now celebrating our twentieth year of operation, we provide services to over seven million individuals throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

As documented in our News articles and Testimonials, NPA is proud to serve a wide variety of clients representing virtually every industry and type of organization in both the private and public sectors. Our list of corporate clients includes the fields of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, consulting, retail sales, manufacturing, entertainment, shipping and transportation, mining, printing, publishing, construction, and the automotive industry. We administer and manage prescription benefit programs for many health and welfare funds, state, county and municipal employees, educators, legislators, police, firefighters, and auto workers. In addition, NPA has significant experience in managing benefit programs for business and labor coalitions, and currently is proud to have the endorsement of the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH). We also serve a wide range of health related insurance and service organizations including HMO's, PPO's, home health providers, hospitals, and nursing care organizations. Our client retention is the greatest testimony to the satisfaction NPA provides to both our clients and their participants.

With over 800 employees, NPA has a strong management team of registered pharmacists, data processing professionals, claims administrators, and client service specialists ready to assist in the design, implementation, and management of benefit programs. Our solid backgrounds in plan design and state-of-the-art computer technology offer the advantage of cost management and greater program efficiency. NPA is unique in the industry by its focus on patients and providing those patients with the highest level of pharmacy benefit management. NPA brings physicians, pharmacists, payors, patients, and the expertise of NPA together to provide patients with quality pharmaceutical care, and our customers with efficient, affordable, value-oriented pharmacy benefit management.

NPA has led the industry in most of the innovative ideas and technologies that have become industry standards. On-line, real time claims processing and adjudication at the point-of-sale; retrospective and prospective drug utilization review; drug formulary and manufacturer rebate programs; provider audit programs; managed care initiatives such as therapeutic substitution programs, disease management, and physician education programs; management and utilization reporting systems; and PC-based ad-hoc reporting capabilities are just some of the areas in which NPA has provided value in efforts to improve the health of patients, and superior benefit management for its customers.