InComm Healthcare highlighted closed-loop gift cards and restricted-spend products as options for Medicare reward programs in an update published on February 1, 2023. The article addressed health plans adjusting to CMS changes adopted in 2021 for the 2022 contract year.

InComm’s explanation distinguished branded gift cards from cash and cash-like rewards. It said the revised framework allowed many closed-loop brands, while excluding cash rewards and certain cards associated with major online and big-box retailers.

The provider presented its own restricted-spend cards as one way to control where a reward could be used. According to the article, those products excluded alcohol, tobacco and firearms. InComm also said its network included gift card brands that health plans could select and personalize for members.

For program administrators, the service described in the update included creating a rewards program or modifying an existing one around the available card choices. Its focus was on matching a plan’s reward design with the restrictions being discussed at the beginning of 2023.