The Corner Penthouse

An extra benefit of my Aetna plan is that it comes with an allowance for Over-the-Counter (OTC) and Healthy Food items. Since January 1, 2023, this benefit is provided by NationsBenefits, LLC. I've already detailed every thing I learned about the use of this benefit in 2023. Now that the new year is upon us, I am here to tell you what I've learned about the newly revised benefit for 2024.

As expected, the Aetna NationsBenefits OTC/Food benefit has changed for 2024... and it's FOR THE BETTER! Instead of two quarterly "wallets" of $300.00 OTC and $210.00 Food, it is now one monthly "wallet" of $215 labeled as "Extra Supports - Healthy Foods, Utilities, Transportation, Rent, Mortgage, Personal Care, Pet Care, OTC". If one were to combine the two 2023 wallets into one and divide it by three, it would break down to $170 per month. So, this new single-wallet monthly benefit is $45 more. Also, with this single "use it on most anything" wallet, I no longer need to use the horrible Benefits Pro app and check items in the store to see if they're eligible. I also no longer have to stock-pile items just so my formerly-separate OTC benefit doesn't go to waste.


The card still works in all of the same stores: Stop & Shop, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid (if you can find one still in business). It still does NOT work in King Kullen, Target, and Dollar Tree. The card still works the best in Stop & Shop, as EVERYTHING can be purchased, no matter whether it's food, medical/OTC, personal, pet, or anything else. I had no problem buying a magazine, a Hot Wheels car, and a deck of UNO cards, along with my food.

On January 2nd, I received the "Aetna Extra Benefits Card Member Guide" in the mail, which detailed some of the new things this card will pay for. Let's take a look at it...


OTC PRODUCTS - Since I have a stockpile of OTC products from last year, there is nothing I need to buy for the time being to test this. Maybe next month I'll run a test to see if vitamins are acceptable now.


HEALTHY FOODS - I can buy all of my groceries at Stop & Shop, where everything is covered. However, I ran a test at Walmart to see if there have been any changes there. I can report that MORE food items are now allowed to be purchased.


I had no problem buying a pint of blueberries and a Hershey's Cookies 'n' Cream chocolate bar at Walmart. Of course, that candy bar would not be considered "healthy food", and the member guide even says that candy is not eligible. Last year it wasn't, this year it is. I think that all food restrictions have been removed for Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid. It seems that anything that can be purchased with SNAP/food stamps can now be purchased with this card. I will test with soda and chips at one of these stores at a later date.


PERSONAL CARE ITEMS - This is a category of items that was definitely NOT allowed last year. I tried buying various non-medicated shampoos and soaps at Rite Aid last year, and they were all rejected.


I had no problem buying a 12-pack of Ivory bar soap, Softsoap Juicy Peach liquid hand soap, VO5 Strawberries & Cream conditioner, and Degree Cool Rush deodorant at Walmart. I assume that I could now buy these same items at CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid.


PET SUPPLIES - All of my dogs died decades ago, so this isn't really a benefit that I could use.


However, my friend has a cat, so I bought a cat collar for her at Walmart as a way to test this out. I assume that I could buy pet supplies at CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid, but I have no need to test this any further.


UTILITIES - My utilities are paid automatically through a bank account, and I won't do anything to screw with that. I will not test this portion of the benefit, and would rather use the benefit towards food and personal care items (and OTC items as needed).


TRANSPORTATION - I will try using the card as Mastercard in the LIRR vending machine when I need to use the train in March. I have no idea how I would use this card to pay bus fare. I think the reader on the NICE Bus system only reads Metrocards. I could be wrong, as I usually only pay with loose change (since the bus system stopped accepting paper cash over a decade ago).


RENT/MORTGAGE ALLOWANCE - I don't know how I would use this to pay my rent, as I pay that in cash. It says something about reimbursement, but I won't be using this benefit to pay my rent, so I have no need to test that out and see how long it takes them to do a reimbursement and what hoops I would need to jump through.

My sister's NationsBenefits benefit through PHP was also changed in 2024. In addition to her monthly $150 wallet for "Over the Counter and Healthy Groceries", she now has a second monthly $50 wallet for "Utilities". While the OTC/Food wallet expires at the end of each month, the Utilities wallet expires at the end of the YEAR! I assume this means that it can be accrued over the entire 12 months until it hits a maximum of $600 on December 1st.


We tested her "Utilities" wallet by using her card as Mastercard on the utility company websites. Both utility accounts are set to autopay, so the big unknown is whether either company would allow a one-time partial payment without screwing up the autopay.

• PSEG - The electric company was a failure. Using the "Make a Payment" button on the website presented a message saying, "Automatic Payments Scheduled - You are currently enrolled in DirectPay. Your bill will be paid automatically on its scheduled due date." This means that the only way to use this Utility benefit on the PSEG bill would be to dis-enroll from autopay, make the one-time partial payment (assuming it would allow a partial payment), then re-enroll in autopay. No thank you.


• OPTIMUM - Thankfully, things are much better with the phone/internet/cable company. Optimum happily allows a one-time payment of $50, with the remainder of the bill to be taken from a bank account through the normal autopay at the end of the month.


Sure enough, the $50 was debited to the "Utilities" wallet.


I'm not sure how many more updates I will need to make to this article, aside from a few further tests. The benefit through Aetna has improved GREATLY to what I had wanted it to be all along. If NationsBenefits will get King Kullen and Target on-board, it would be as close to perfect as I could hope. The benefit through PHP is now two wallets, instead of one, but the "Utilities" wallet works as I hoped it would, so that's not so bad. I guess, that's all for now.

[UPDATE - 1/22/2024]
I successfully used the NationsBenefits card to purchase a Long Island Railroad (LIRR) train ticket at the ticket vending machine. Rather curiously, after swiping the card, I had to input my zip code. I don't know if it was the LIRR or NationsBenefits requiring this. (UPDATE: A few weeks later, I also successfully used the card to pay for a LIRR train ticket on the train, with the conductor swiping the card through the ticket printer affixed to his belt. There was no need to enter my zip code.)


So, that's another successful test. YAY!

[UPDATE - 2/5/2024]
I ran some more tests on the Aetna NationsBenefits card to see if there are still food restrictions. Yes, there are, but not as severe as there was in 2023. I had no problem buying sugar-free/diet soda, candy, and pre-popped popcorn in Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS; none of which could I buy in 2023. I could not buy a four-pack of Valentine's Day donuts in Walmart. In regards to the soda, I did have to pay the 5-cent bottle deposit fee (it was 6-cents in Walgreens). So, I think the card will now allow me to buy most, but not all, of the food items that SNAP/Food Stamps would pay for.


The Aetna NationsBenefits card still does not pay for vitamins in CVS. I'm sure that I could buy vitamins in Stop & Shop, since I can buy almost anything there, but it still puzzles me that a common OTC item like vitamins isn't covered on a OTC card.


Finally, I need to make a correction to what I originally wrote about the PHP NationsBenefits "Utilities" wallet. It is not $50 per year, but rather $50 per month. (I just updated the text elsewhere in this article to provide the correct information.) Furthermore, I think that it accrues over the course of the year, with $50 more added on the first day each month until it reaches a potential maximum of $600 on December 1st, which must be spent by December 31st. I came to this conclusion because my sister spent her $50 in January, and yet another $50 was added on February 1st. She's going to leave it be and we'll see if it becomes $100 on March 1st.

[UPDATE - 2/10/2024]
As expected, I had no problem buying vitamins in Stop & Shop with the Aetna NationsBenefits card, since I can buy almost anything there using the card. I bought Alive! multivitamin gummies and Airborne immune support Vitamin C-blend chewable tablets.


I can also report that the Aetna NationsBenefits card will now pay for ice cream and ice pops in Walmart. I never tested buying ice cream in 2023, but it was always on the "no no" list with soda, candy, and chips, so I assume it wasn't allowable last year.


I didn't have to pay a single cent in either of these tests, so I call them both a great success!

[UPDATE - 2/13/2024]
I decided to try the Aetna NationsBenefits card to make a partial $100 payment towards my Optimum cable, phone, internet bill. At first it was declined, but after I gave a mailing address, it was approved.


So, that's another successful test.

[UPDATE - 3/1/2024]
As expected, my sister's Utilities benefits through PHP DOES accrue over the course of the year. On March 1st, $50 was added to the unused $50 from February, giving her $100 to spent on a utility bill.


She can use it this month, or wait for next month's $50 to be added to it, bringing the total up to $150.

[UPDATE - 3/16/2024]
I can now personally confirm that the "Transportation" portion of the Aetna benefit pays for New York City taxicabs. The taxi is listed as "CURB MOBILITY LONG ISLAND C USA" on the charges. My charge going to my destination was $35.50 (includes a $5.00 tip) due to the brutally-slow traffic at 5:30 PM on a Thursday. Coming back at 10:45 PM, the traffic wasn't so bad, so the charge was only $24.20 (includes a $5.00 tip).


While going to check my balance, I noticed that the Aetna NationsBenefits website has been updated. Right away, the new site gets off to a bad start by presenting you with a NAG every time it loads up after you log in. The NAG is NationsBenefits way of trying to push you to use your benefit to buy groceries on their website. You have to click on the "X" to get rid of this nag EVERY TIME YOU LOG IN!


Once you get past that nag, you will see the new tiled design showing the offerings: Grocery, Food, Vitamins & Dietary Supplements, Pain Relief, Oral Care, Digestive Health, Cold & Allergy, First Aid, and Dental & Denture Care. Hold on... aren't "Grocery" and "Food" the same thing? Also, Vitamins?!? I tried buying vitamins several times in CVS and they weren't covered. Why can I buy them from NationsBenefits, but not in CVS?


Further down the main page, there is now an option to buy "Pantry Boxes" of fresh fruit and vegetables for the incredibly high price of $45 each! There better be a helluva lot of produce in that box.


These "Pantry Boxes" used to only be available on the PHP NationsBenefits site that my sister's benefit works through. She never ordered any because her card never worked on the site, so I can't say how good or fresh the produce is. Given the condition of the non-perishable food I've ordered through the Aetna NationsBenefits site at the beginning of 2023 was, I would not be too hopeful with this. I think it would be much better to just buy fresh produce from a local grocery store (for less money), assuming you have one of the few grocery stores that the NationsBenefits card works in in your area.

[UPDATE - 4/2/2024]
Well, there are still stupid food restrictions, at least when using the card at CVS. I can confirm that at CVS, hand-decorated cookies are not covered. At CVS, you can't take non-covered items off of your bill after the NationsBenefits card has been swiped and payment has been made. You have to get an employee to void the entire order and start over.  That will (or should) credit the money back to your NationsBenefits account. If you used a coupon, it may or may not be usable again, and it has to be retrieved from the self-checkout coupon bin. It sucks that low-income people have to have restrictions placed on the benefits they are given, as if being poor wasn't restrictive enough.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this NationsBenefits card should pay for everything that SNAP (aka Food Stamps) pays for.

[UPDATE - 7/8/2024]
Just when I thought I had this all figured out, something happens that makes things more confusing. My sister used her PHP NationsBenefits card in a King Kullen supermarket. As expected from my testing last year, the card reader asked her to input a PIN. As I noted in either this, or the 2023 article, if you are asked for a PIN, it means that the store doesn't accept the card. After she told this to the cashier, somehow someway, the cashier was able to do a "PIN Bypass" (or something else) that allowed the card to go through. As seen in the screenshot below, a payment of $150 was approved to King Kullen.


A few days later, I decided to go to the same King Kullen supermarket to see if I could get my Aetna NationsBenefits card to pay for something, too. I swiped the card and, indeed, it asked me for a PIN. I pressed the green "OK" button without entering a PIN, and the transaction was denied. At this point, I swiped the card again, and when the PIN input screen came up, I asked the cashier to do a "PIN Bypass" (or whatever the other cashier did) to get the card to go through. He said that if it asks for a PIN, I have to enter a PIN. I told him that the card has no PIN. He didn't know what to do. I guess he wasn't as experienced as the cashier who handled my sister's order a few days earlier.


I really wish that I was present when the cashier got my sister's card approved, so that I could ask her what she did and learn more about it. Would the "trick" she did work on the Aetna NationsBenefits card, too, or was it something that would only work on the PHP NationsBenefits card? Did my sister get lucky and it only "worked" that one time? Clearly, it IS possible for the card to go through at King Kullen, but not by default, and it takes some effort by a cashier who has to know exactly what to do.

[UPDATE - 8/10/2024]
When I wrote the original 2023 article, I stated that if you are asked to enter a PIN after swiping your card at store checkout, it is a sign that the store does not accept the NationsBenefits card. Well, now that is no longer true. After using the card in Stop & Shop for almost a year without ever being asked to enter a PIN, now both the Aetna and PHP NationsBenefits cards prompt for a PIN when used at Stop & Shop. You can press the enter/green button on the store's "PIN Pad" without entering a PIN and the card/payment will go through, but it never asked for one before now. Weird!

[UPDATE - 10/5/2024]
Just when I have the answers, they change the questions. Yet again, using the NationsBenefits card at Stop & Shop is different. When checking out, it doesn't ask for the non-existent PIN, like it did for the past few months, but now it asks to confirm the purchase amount. It never did that at all in the past.  This is what SNAP (food stamps) does. Besides that, it now says "Nations Benefits" on the receipt, instead of "MasterCard".


The most significant, and IMPORTANT CHANGE, is that NationsBenefits no longer pays for anything at Stop & Shop, as it has for the past year. As seen in the above receipt scan, I had to pay $11.26 cash for a magazine. Since Stop & Shop started accepting NationsBenefits a year ago, I could buy any and all items that the store sells with the card. Magazines, toys, medicines, household goods, personal care items... plus food, of course. It seems that someone at NationsBenefits and/or Stop & Shop got wise to this "fault" of the system.

I think that it now only pays for food. Hopefully, ALL food, and not select items, like in the other stores. Coupled with the checkout card reader asking me to confirm the purchase amount, like it does when I pay with SNAP (food stamps), makes me think that it's going to pay for the same items - though NationsBenefits is supposed to pay for personal care items. Of course, the program tends to change in January, and that is less than three months away, so we'll see what happens...

[UPDATE - 11/23/2024]
I received my new Aetna member card in the mail a few days ago. The big issue is that they're outsourcing the dental plan from Aetna PPO to Liberty Dental Plan. That change, and the possibility of not being able to see my current dentist anymore, prompted me to e-mail my high-level contact at Aetna. As a result, she sent me the "Annual Notice of Changes for 2025" PDF. Starting January 1, 2025, the "Extra Supports Wallet" amount is being reduced from $215 to $165. This $50 reduction is being done so Aetna can offer an "Extra Supports Wallet bonus of $50" to certain individuals, though I have no idea who would qualify for this bonus.


Also, as seen in the screenshot above, it will no longer pay for pet supplies and rent/mortgage assistance.  Everything else about it seems to remain the same - aside from the $50 reduction, that is.

[UPDATE - 12/5/2024]
As if Aetna wasn't giving me enough to deal with, I just received this letter in the mail from NationsBenefits informing me that, if I were staying with Aetna, my current NationsBenefits Aetna Extra Benefits Mastercard card would no longer be usable after 2024.


As you can see from reading it, no reason is given for why a new card will be issued. Last year, I was able to use the 2023 card in 2024. I can only guess that this change is due to the "Extra Supports Wallet bonus of $50" that will, probably, be issued as a separate "wallet" on the card. It doesn't matter, of course, as I will no longer be an Aetna member after December 31, 2024.

[UPDATE - 12/10/2024]
My sister just received her new member card from Partners Health Plan (PHP). Starting in 2025, members of the "PHP Care Complete FIDA-IDD (Medicare-Medicaid Plan)" will see an increase in the OTC card's "Utilities" benefit. It's listed in the letter as a "$780 annual allowance", which breaks down to $65 a month. This is a $15 increase over the current $50 utility benefit. By specifically stating that it's a separate benefit, this letter also confirms that it will continue to be a separate "wallet" on the NationsBenefits card and not combined with the $150 OTC/Food wallet. That still kinda sucks, as it prevents her from spending the entire $215 each month on food.


You'll also notice that, just like Aetna, PHP is changing their member's dental plan. Hers will now be with a company named BeneCare. I never heard of them. I hope her dentist accepts BeneCare, so she doesn't have to change dentists like Aetna was forcing me to do.