The Corner Penthouse

For the past few years, I have been documenting the results of my tests with Aetna's OTC & Healthy Food Extra Benefits card, as well as Aetna's Rewards program. As of 2026, the two programs are essentially one and the same, so I thought I should write one (possibly) final article about both. Read on to find out more...


This is the standard OTC benefit provided by Aetna (parent company of CVS, or vice versa). Most of the insurance companies offer an OTC benefit. Originally, it would provide you with a quarterly stipend to use on over-the-counter medical items at select pharmacies. Eventually, the benefit was changed to monthly, and was expanded to allow the purchase of select food products - at those same pharmacies(!) and select supermarkets - and, even better, could be used to pay a utility bill or for transportation costs. The Aetna/CVS OTC online store describes the benefit as such:

The Extra Supports Wallet allowance can be used to help pay for certain everyday expenses including healthy foods, over-the-counter health and wellness products, utilities, transportation, and personal care products.

In 2023 and 2024, the OTC benefit was managed by a third-party known as NationsBenefits. Starting in 2025, Aetna/CVS handles the benefit itself, which can be used physically in select pharmacies and supermarkets using the Visa debit card seen at the head of this article, as well as in the aforementioned Aetna/CVS OTC online store. It can not be used at any other online stores.

I have no need to run any "which items can I buy?" tests, which is why I never wrote a 2025 article about the benefit. That's because by using the monthly $165 benefit to pay towards my highly overpriced Optimum bill, I am, in essence, converting the benefit to cash (which I can then use anywhere without limitations and restrictions). You see, when the OTC benefit pays $165 towards the bill, that keeps $165 in my pocket. By not having to pay the $165 from my pocket, I am keeping that "cash". Thus, I have essentially converted the OTC benefit to cash. That's much better than playing guessing games with food products in the supermarket, or having to deal with Stop & Shop's "pay with SNAP/food stamps first, then OTC" bullshit, which would actually prevent me from using the OTC to pay because SNAP would cover the entire order.


This benefit has changed SO much from 2022 to the present, as I detailed in this article. Before I explain how it changed, let me first explain what it is. Unlike the OTC benefit, this benefit isn't advertised as much and is probably not even known to exist by most Aetna members. The Rewards section of your Aetna member account lists a bunch of activities you can do to earn money to buy yourself something nice later. These activities are ones that are designed to keep you in good health. The activities for 2026 are listed below. You enter the past or future date that you accomplished (or plan to accomplish) the task, or make up dates, and in a few days, the money will be credited to your Rewards account/wallet.

$05 - Review your plan benefits and opt in - View your 2026 plan benefits, check your contact information, and opt in to receive texts and emails.
$25 - Book an annual wellness visit or physical exam - Stay ahead of health issues with a yearly checkup.
$25 - Get more out of your benefits - Earn a reward by completing a health survey online or over the phone.
$30 - Get a colonoscopy - Earn reward dollars by getting a colonoscopy screening.
$50 - Get extra support with a Healthy Home Visit - Complete a checkup from the comfort of home.
($135 total)


Originally, you could cash out for a digital or physical gift card for Best Buy, CVS, Home Depot, Kohls, Subway, and a few other stores and restaurants. In 2022 and 2023, I opted for a digital gift card to Best Buy because I am a physical media collector, and the digital card would come a lot quicker than the physical card. Unfortunately, the digital gift cards would often end up in my spam folder because the e-mails were poorly designed and LOOKED exactly like spam! That was the impetus for writing my original 2022 article.

By 2024, Best Buy was no longer an option, which was fine because that's when the store stopped selling physical media (4K and Blu-ray). I opted for a digital CVS gift card because I have no need for Home Depot, and the local Subway is run by Coupon Nazis, so I don't patronize them anymore. For 2025, CVS was still the only viable option for me, only now I was forced to accept a PHYSICAL gift card. I guess Aetna got too many complaints about the digital gift card e-mails that were ending up in spam filters, even though the e-mail design was changed a year or two earlier.

While CVS is not a store I usually shop at - only when I need to get an over-the-counter item - I had no problem finding $135 worth of stuff in 2024 and 2025; mostly gifts for friends and family. I was expecting to have to do the same in 2026, but to my surprise, THE REWARDS PROGRAM DOESN'T OFFER ANY GIFT CARDS ANYMORE!!!

At first I thought Aetna completely ruined the program, but in a way, they actually made it BETTER! You see, it now piggybacks onto the OTC/Food benefit. The Aetna/CVS OTC online store describes the benefit as such:

The Healthy Rewards Wallet allowance can be used to help pay for certain everyday expenses including healthy foods, over-the-counter health and wellness products, utilities, transportation, and personal care products. If you have Extra Supports Wallet, it must be at $0 to leverage your Healthy Rewards Wallet. If you have an OTC wallet, it must be at zero to use your Healthy Rewards Wallet for OTC catalog items.

Yes, first you use your $165 OTC/Food benefit, then you can use your $135 Rewards benefit on the same types of things. Now, there are two ways to look at that. Instead of being able to buy ANYTHING you want in CVS, etc. using a gift card, you're forced to "reward" yourself with OTC medical items or selected food items; either in the Aetna/CVS Rewards online store or in the same pharmacies and supermarkets that accept the OTC Visa debit card. If you do that, this benefit now sucks.


However, remember what I said about the OTC benefit being able to pay a utility bill, and thus letting you keep the cash you would have paid towards that bill in your pocket? Well, you can use the $135 Rewards benefit to do the same thing. Yes, I first used the OTC benefit to pay $165 towards my Optimum bill, then I immediately made a $135 payment towards the same bill with the same Visa card. In total, for the month of February 2026, both benefits paid $300 towards the bill, and I only had to pay $35.62 out of pocket for the $335.62 bill. (Yes, Optimum fucking overcharges for TV, phone, and internet here in New York.)



Again, by doing that, I converted the $135 Rewards benefit to cash, just as I did the $165 OTC benefit, thus keeping $300 "cash" in my pocket for February. So, using the Rewards benefit toward a utility bill is MUCH BETTER than wasting it on random crap in CVS.

ADDENDUM
I forgot to mention that there is a THIRD benefit provided by Aetna to members of their Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), which are for individuals who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. That would be the yearly $150 Fall Prevention benefit.


When you log into the Aetna/CVS online store, you are shown the screen above letting you choose between the Fall Prevention benefit and the Extra Benefits Card (and Rewards). This choice determines which wallet(s) you can shop with. If you select Fall Prevention, you will be allowed to use the $150 to buy a measly 16 overpriced items, as seen in the screenshot below. Yes, that's EVERY item you can buy with this benefit, and some will likely be out of stock.


Furthermore, you are allowed no more than THREE ONLINE ORDERS PER YEAR! I don't know if the benefit can be used in-person at CVS with the OTC card. The site mentions "redeem in store", and maybe you'll have a better, and cheaper, selection of items in a physical CVS (or other pharmacy?). I really can't say.

Personally, I wish there was a way to put this $150 towards the utility bill, as well. These items are meant for senior citizens, so there's not much here I have a use for. The few items I could actually use - grabber, bath mat, night lights - I already bought with this benefit a few years ago. I even bought a few extras as spares back in 2024, which I still have stored away. I don't need any more.

Since I did not want the 2026 benefit to go to waste, I just bought one grabber, three grab bars, and three bath mats. That totaled exactly $150! All will be donated to charity, which I will do every year.