Can You Afford To Lose Business By Being Non-IIAS Compliant?
This is a very serious question in today’s pharmacy industry. An IRS mandate promotes an electronic process for using flexible spending cards which will save you and your pharmacy customers a lot of time and paperwork. However, if your POS system is not IIAS-compliant by December 31, 2008, your pharmacy will be unable to accept and process flexible spending cards as a service to your patients. As the use of the flexible cards increases, patients will go to pharmacies that can process them. Pharmacies that delay responding to this deadline now could end up losing a portion of their pharmacy business.
For more information, see the topics below.
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IIAS compliancy has been completed for Heartland Payment Systems and Slim CD. We expect to complete the Shift4 certification in the second quarter of 2010.
Freedom Data Systems has completed our PA-DSS compliancy certification. You will find our listing at https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/vpa/
Once at the site click on Get the List of Validated Payment Applications and search for Freedom Data Systems.
I have a Freedom Data POS System
Freedom Data Systems is in the process of enhancing your PRO/POS software so that you will have the tools necessary to certify your store to accept FSA and HRA cards by December 31, 2008 as required by IRS regulations. If you plan to accept FSA and HRA cards then you MUST be certified as of December 31, 2008 and do the following.
- Have your PRO/POS software updated.
- Join the Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards (SIGIS) as a tier IV member. The cost to join as a tier IV member is $250.00 per year. This membership provides you with access to the Qualified Product List (QPL)—which contains the description and UPC code of FSA-eligible products—necessary for the certification and acceptance of FSA/HRA cards.
- Go to the SIGIS home page.
- Select Join and then Membership Signup Form.
- Download and complete the membership application and send it in ASAP. (Submit your application early to avoid the year-end rush of applications.)
- After you join, send proof of your membership to support@freedomdata.com. Your account will be modified so that you can download the Qualified Product list.
Notes:
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| If you own multiple locations you only need to join once to cover all the stores under your corporate ownership. |
| | | If you are a pharmacy that has elected to use the 90% exception rule then you may still want to join SIGIS so that you
have access to the Qualified Product list. You may find that this list is necessary to assist your customers in
substantiating their claims. |
- After your POS software is updated, you must become IIAS-certified by your MSP/Processor. Your MSP or Processor is the company you pay each month for credit card transaction fees.
- Download and complete the Merchant Certification Self-Assessment form.
- Send the completed form to your MSP or Processor for certification.
Note: Freedom Data Systems has no control over this process. Please contact your MSP/Processor for more information on their certification process.
- Your MSP/Processor will review your self-assessment and once approved, will send it to SIGIS. After SIGIS receives the form, they will add your pharmacy to the list of IIAS-complaint merchants posted at the SIGIS Web site. They will also send you something you can display your store front to indicate you are IIAS-compliant.
Note: The IRS has listed one exemption to the IIAS ruling thus far, referred to in the pharmacy industry as “the 90% rule.” For information on the 90% rule, contact your credit card processor for their requirements to satisfy a 90% ruling for your store. Be sure that you understand that transactions processed at stores utilizing the 90% rule will not be automatically substantiated.
