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About Us >> News & Events
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Excerpt from the article "Six Ways To Shop Indian Merchants Online"
by Lauren Sherman, 08.26.08 at Forbes.com..
And in the health field, companies like India Health Card are making it easier for
NRIs to help out with the family medical bills. Instead of wiring money--which is
the standard procedure when an ailing relative is in need of cash to pay for a doctor's
appointment--NRIs can now simply log onto the company's Web site and use a debit
card to add cash to the relative's balance.
Like a bank, the company investigates any suspicious deposits and reserves the right
to restrict the amount of money allowed in the account, as well as the ability to
withdraw from the account, in order to protect against illegal actions like money
laundering, fraud or gambling services.
Dr. Ravi Halekote, president of India Health Card, says that any company that uses
the Internet as a tool is speaking to the modern NRI. "Most non-resident Indians
are Internet savvy, and our system is very user friendly," says Halekote. "There's
huge potential for this sort of thing."
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India Health Card is in the process of developing a network of quality Healthcare
service providers all over India. |
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India Health Card in Media
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Card for NRIs pay kin’s health bills in India |
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DNA (New York) - 29 Nov 2008 |
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“Most of us came to America with one intention – to help our families in
India.
NRIs don’t hesitate to help relatives who need medical attention.” |
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Transglobal Beneficial, a Texas-based healthcare solutions firm, has launched a
prepaid, refillable India Health Card to make it easier for non-resident Indians
(NRIs) to pay medical bills of family members in India. |
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Relatives gifted the India Health Card by NRIs in countries such as the US and the
Middle East where the card is being aggressively marketed will get access to a 1,500
member network of doctors, hospitals and pharmacies across India with discounts
ranging from 5% to 15%. |
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Dr. Ravi Halekote, president of India Health Card, who is all too familiar with
the experience of wiring money to India to help ailing relatives, said his firm
will tap a market driven by 30 million Indians living abroad. “Most of us came to
America with one intention – to help our families in India. NRIs don’t hesitate
to help relatives who need medical attention,” said Halekote, a dentist with a successful
practice in San Antonio, Texas. He said Transglobal has spent half-a-million dollars
over the last two years on market research and getting a network of doctors on board. |
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“Last year, NRIs sent back $27 billion in remittances, the highest among all recipient
highest among all recipient countries. Ours research found that a lot of Indians
living abroad sent money home for medical expenses but it often went into buying
household goods. With the India Health Card, and NRI can ensure his or her parents
visit the doctor,” Halekote told DNA Money. He said the best part of the model is
that at no time does the beneficiary have access to cash. “He only has access to
the service. We pay the doctor or hospital directly from the funds loaded on the
card. I don’t see any scope for misuse of funds,” he said. |
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There has been a boom in the number of firms, from banks to phone companies, that
have set their sights on NRIs. Sunny Balijepalli, who sold Half.com to eBay for
$350 million, is back in the start-up mode with a photo-sharing service ZoonIn.com
that allows US-based Indians to send photographs to India. Similarly, Reliance Communications
has sold some 1.5 million phone cards in the US and other countries, mainly to NRIs
who want to call India. |
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“India Health Card beneficiaries should use our network of doctors but we communicate
with them all the time. If they can’t find a specialist of their preference they
can contact us with their preferred provider and we will try to sign them up for
our network,” said Halekote. |
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An NRI can send a maximum of $1,000 daily to a beneficiary. But for a major surgery
or hospitalization, the NRI can load $1,000 on a daily basis on the card to grow
the balance. NRIs pay $10 as annual membership fee for an individual and $25 for
family.
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Health Card for NRIs Launched |
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BUSINESS STANDARD - 27 Nov 2008 |
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Transglobal Beneficial, a Texas-based provider of healthcare solutions, has launched
India Health Card (IHC), a prepaid health care card designed to provide access to
health services for the NRI beneficiaries through a network of healthcare providers
across India. |
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India Health Card works similar to a debit card. The NRIs are required to load funds
onto the card through the Internet and then use it to receive healthcare services
from healthcare providers in India. If a patient’s health care provider is not a
part of the IHC network, IHC will contact the concerned provider and explain the
no-fee registration process. The beneficiaries will also receive service at a discounted
rate by using the card. |
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Presently, about 30 million Indians live abroad. According to a recent World Bank
report, India is the top recipient of migrant remittances in 2007, receiving $27
billion. However, only 5 per cent of the NRI remittances at present goes towards
healthcare-related costs. |
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Transglobal Launches healthcare card |
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DECCAN HERALD - 27 Nov 2008 |
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Texas-based healthcare firm – Transglobal Beneficiaries Inc, on Wednesday, announced
the launch of its Indian Healthcare Card (IHC) aimed at bridging the gap between
beneficiaries and the lack of access to healthcare and finances. |
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Briefing reporters, IHC Founder CEO Ravi Halekote said, “It is designed to provide
healthcare services through the firm’s extensive healthcare provider network across
India and save the trouble of delayed payments to health care provider.” |
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The IHC works like a debit card. The account holders, first load funds onto the
card through the Internet and beneficiaries then use the card to receive healthcare
services. |
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There are 2 types ‘individual’ and ‘family’. The firm’s revenue will be derived
from registration fee and service and service fee paid by account holders who will
pay $7 for $100-15, and $11 for deposits up to $200 as service charges. |
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Transglobal Launches Prepaid Cards for NRIs |
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ECONOMIC TIMES - 27 Nov 2008 |
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TRANSGLOBAL Beneficial, a US-based company formed by a group of medical professionals,
on Wednesday launched a prepaid, reloadable card which is designed to streamline
remittances by non residential Indians (NRI) towards healthcare services for their
beneficiaries in India. |
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The Indian Health Card (IHC), which is available for purchase online, involves a
registration fee $10 for individual members and $25 families. The card functions
like a debit card, which once loaded by the NRI allows the user residing in India
to pay for out-of-pocket expenses at hospitals at a discounted rate of 5-15%. The
company has signed on 2000 healthcare providers so far. |
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“The card allows NRIs to monitor the funds that are sent home for healthcare purposes.”
Transglobal Beneficial’s president Dr. Ravi Halekote said. According to a World
Bank report, only 5% of the $29-billion NRI remittances are channeled towards healthcare
costs as the money sent often gets redirected for unintended purposed. |
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“Through the IHC, healthcare providers would be able to receive payment within 24-36
hours. It also offers an alternative to the expensive process of money transfer
associated with NRI accounts.” Transglobal Beneficial’s vice president Dr. Dennis
Young blood said. The company’s revenues will come from member-ship and transaction
fees. |
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A Health card for NRIs’ kin |
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BUSINESS LINE - 28 Nov 2008 |
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Transglobal Beneficial Inc rolled out its prepaid India Health Card in Bangalore
on Wednesday. The card works like a debit card and is meant to cover the medical
expenses of families of NRIs back home. |
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The card aims to replace the slower procedure of wiring money and ensures timely,
assured payment towards treatment at over 2,000 hospitals and dental services across
the country, a release by the Texas-based healthcare payment solutions company said. |
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Currently, 5 per cent of the $29-billion NRI remittances or around Rs. 7,000 crore
accounts for healthcare-related spends. According to Dr. Ravi Halekote, Founder
and CEO of India Health Card, the card is convenient for the families and saves
delayed payments to hospitals and dental clinics. |
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NRIs can buy and send it to their families in India and load the card periodically
through the Internet. Users get services at a discount. In future, the pre-paid
card is to be made available at hospitals and malls. The company has tied up with
almost all private healthcare majors and plans to take in the next phase. The privately-held
Transglobal was started by medical professionals to offer innovative healthcare
payment solutions. |
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