Web3 XRP Healthcare Promises Low-Cost Drugs

XRP Healthcare is launching what it calls the first health platform using the XRP ledger.

Set to debut in the second quarter of the year, the platform will use the company’s native token — XRPH — allowing users to purchase conventional and alternative medicines, XRP Healthcare (XRPH) said in a Thursday (Jan. 19) news release.

In addition to the launch, the company also announced a partnership with ScriptCo, a membership-based pharmacy.

“There are millions of Americans struggling to pay the bills, let alone healthcare, so when I heard about ScriptCo, it was a no-[brainer],” XRPH founder Kain Roomes said in the release.

“People having access to prescriptions at wholesale cost ties perfectly into our model, and I’m glad that XRPH will play a part in expanding the reach for ScriptCo.”

The company says it wants to create fast payments between participants in the healthcare market while bringing transparency to pharmaceutical transactions to combat the “multi-billion dollar counterfeit medicine industry.”

PYMNTS has repeatedly noted the difficulty consumers face when paying for healthcare. There’s a rising demand for healthcare payment plans, driven by Gen Z, millennials, and lower-income patients.

“Despite relatively accessible health insurance options in the U.S., consumers often face overwhelming, and sometimes unexpected, out-of-pocket costs,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this month. “For those not willing or able to pay an entire bill at the time of service, payment plans can be a (sometimes literal) lifesaver.”

Research by PYMNTS shows that age and financial stability are key predictors of a patient choosing a payment plan, with people who live paycheck to paycheck and younger generations the most likely to need to finance health-related expenses.

There’s also a correlation between surprise bills and the need for payment plans, a sign that many patients do not have space in their budgets for unexpected expenses.

There’s also been a recent evolution in healthcare payment plans, such as the recent announcement by healthcare payments platform Paytient that it’s launching a new product — the Health Payment Account (HPA) — which offers interest-free payment plans for healthcare expenses using a dedicated Visa card and the Paytient mobile app.

“There’s a trillion-dollar challenge of unfunded care in the U.S.” Paytient Co-Founder and CEO Brian Whorley said in an interview PYMNTS, pointing out that the company’s HPA product is purpose-built to help consumers handle these costs.

“Employers, health insurers, they’re mindful, they’re thoughtful, they’re cognizant that paying for care is often the most painful part of the healthcare experience,” he said, adding that the answer is using increasingly familiar interest-free credit and employer-sponsoring “into something that’s very planned, manageable, [and] affordable for you and your family.”

PYMNTS Data: Why Consumers Are Trying Digital Wallets

A PYMNTS study, “New Payments Options: Why Consumers Are Trying Digital Wallets” finds that 52% of US consumers tried out a new payment method in 2022, with many choosing to give digital wallets a try for the first time.