Any good cash back cards for medical-dental-pharmacy?

[TheConductor]

First things first. Using a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account for medical expenses will save you far more in taxes than any cash-back card could ever provide alone.

The real beauty is that you can make the purchase on the cash-back credit card of your choice, then have the account reimburse you, so you get the standard cash-back plus the tax-free savings.

So definitely look into maximizing your savings with a tax-advantaged account...now, back to the question: which cash-back cards are best for medical expenses?

A lot of the cards that used to provide high drugstore rewards have been discontinued, and I've noticed that lately drugstores are not coming up in the quarterly rewards calendars for Chase Freedom/Discover/etc. either. It's very interesting that the old Blue Cash can still be applied for, because it seems like the rest of the industry has been backing steadily away from drugstore rewards. What does remain out there is not all that great.

Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature does give 3 HHonors points per dollar at drugstores, but ever since the HH points were devalued you will typically get more value from a standard 2% cash back card. Call the point value half a cent on a good day, and you're looking at a 1.5% return.

The AAA Member Rewards Visa has 2 points on drugstores, but here apart from the 1:1 points-for-cash redemption you're looking at limited redemption options. So, for all intents and purposes I'd consider it a flat 2% cash back.

As for dental/medical expenses outside the drugstore, I'm not aware of any cards that have ever offered special bonuses for those, and in my opinion that is a good thing. While not true for all borrowers, for most a medical expense will be large and unexpected, and require revolving a balance for a while until it gets paid. For most people, the interest will outweigh the benefits. CareCredit is an option, or paying on some other card and opening a Slate to transfer the balance afterwards.

So, how can you make the most on medical/dental/drugstores if you know you can PIF even for large medical costs?

Pharmacy:

I do a lot of my phramacy purchases at my local supermarket's pharmacy. They code the transaction as a grocery store, not a drugstore, so I get 6% back on the Amex BCP.

Medical/Dental: Use a 2% cash back card, or if you are skilled at eking maximum value out of reward points systems, use a card that has UltimateRewards, Starpoints, Member Rewards, or some other point system that can be redeemed for 2 cents or more per point.

I personally put most such expenses on my Chase Sapphire Preferred, knowing I can get great redemptions for international travel through United, or for short-haul domestic or foreign flights through British Airways Avios.

Still, as I said above, what saves me the most money is my Health Saving Account. It not only lets me pay medical expenses from tax-free income when I need to, it also lets the account grow and earn interest. And since my current employer doesn't offer a high-deductible health plan, I'm not even having to make the one big compromise that HSA plans require. I can't contribute more to it as a result, but that tax-advantaged nest egg can continue quietly earning more money until I need it.

Next to the power of compound interest, cash-back is just a fine-tuning adjustment.

[kdm31091]

As mentioned above, the best youll do for these purchases is 2 percent back. Use a points card if you can eek extra value out of the points, but otherwise 2 percent cash cards are your highest return for these things.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
As mentioned above, the best youll do for these purchases is 2 percent back. Use a points card if you can eek extra value out of the points, but otherwise 2 percent cash cards are your highest return for these things.

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Well the OBC really will give 5% at drug stores, so that is more than 2%.   Discover IT Miles will currently give 3% everywhere.

[Kb109]

The Huntington Voice 3x Rewards card has a pharmacy option if you choose to use that as your 3x points category

[kdm31091]

True I forgot old blue cash. Its an option, but mostly for higher spenders since you dont get the 5 percent until you spend quite a bit.

Huntington does offer 3x pharmacy if its available to you, but its geographically limited

[Kb109]

kdm is right. You must be a resident of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia or Kentucky to open a Huntington account of any type, I believe.

[SouthJamaica]

I guess I'll just assume that the 2% and 1.5% general cash back cards are the way to go in getting cash back for medical, dental, and drug store purchases.

[Anonymous]

If you live on the west coast, you could go with JCB Marukai for 3% back. Other than that and Miles, 2% is the best I've seen.

[Themanwhocan]

Wells Fargo Cash Back Visa gives 5% cash back on drugstores for first 6 months.

Wells Fargo Cash Back College Visa gives 3% cash back on drugstores for first 6 months.