Alabama Grocer 2023 Issue 3.indd

HEALTHY BENEFIT CARDS INDUSTRY NEWS

Greg Ferrara President & CEO National Grocers Association CONSUMERS DESERVE HASSLE-FREE HEALTHY BENEFITS AT ANY GROCER THEY CHOOSE

Imagine for a moment that you see one of your neighbors shopping for groceries. Their cart is filled with all the products they need to prepare meals for their family during the coming week. Up at the checkstand, they unload their cart and the checker rings them up. Then they present a payment card that promised to cover their food purchases, but they’re told it’s not accepted at this store. Finding themselves unable to pay, they’re forced to abandon their cart and leave the store, embarrassed and uncertain as to how they’ll feed their family. Scenarios like this actually are playing out at independent community grocers across the country for folks attempting to pay for their groceries with healthy benefit cards. Funded by some insurance companies, healthy benefit cards were designed so customers - in particular, older adults, at-risk populations and those with chronic diseases - can fill up their carts at the grocery store with fruits, vegetables and other healthy choices. These cards look like credit cards - some even carry a credit card company logo - but they don’t work that way. They’re only accepted by a few large grocery store chains.

So, millions of Americans who rely on independent grocers, often the only grocery stores in rural and urban low income areas, are locked out of using this benefit, folks who need it the most. And some independent grocers that support older adult communities - the primary participants in these programs - have experienced a double-digit drop in customers as they discover the limitations of these benefit cards that have cut them off from their traditional shopping option. Hearing from retailers about this issue, NGA took the lead on the issue earlier this year. In February, NGA asked the White House to build upon their goals from the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health to solve this problem. NGA also met with several members of Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), urging them to provide oversight on Medicare Advantage Plans.

To apply additional pressure, NGA in May issued an open letter (https://www.nationalgrocers.org/ healthy-benefit-card-open-letter/), signed by nearly 1,700 independent grocers, to key healthy benefit card stakeholders, urging that the cards be accepted by a broader variety of retailers. In June, NGA hosted a meeting with POS system providers and payment networks to discuss solutions for providing access to healthy benefit cards in high-need communities being served by independent grocers. Because of input from the June stakeholder meeting, NGA launched an online toolkit (https://www. nationalgrocers.org/healthy-benefit card/) to offer resources to help grocers implement the technology required to accept healthy benefit cards, as well as to be a comprehensive ongoing resource for updates about this program. This toolkit supports independent community grocers with the knowledge they need to navigate this emerging field as well as equip retailers with insights into key stakeholders in this evolving sector when initiating these payments in their stores.

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