Our Mission

The Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards (SIGIS), formerly known as the IIAS Standards Interest Group, announced its formal incorporation and the introduction of a voluntary industry standard solution to meet IRS requirements for operating an inventory information approval system (an "IIAS"). The SIGIS IIAS standards will enable a broad range of participants in health benefit payment card transactions to implement consistent systems and processes for transaction processing and data retention. These companies include retailers, acquirer processors, payment card networks, issuer processors, and third party administrators. More than 60 retail chains have announced their intention to implement the SIGIS IIAS standard by January 1, 2008.

The Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards was formed to create a standard industry solution that could be both scaleable and broadly adoptable, while consistent with IRS requirements. The Group and its standards are the culmination of over a year of hard work by a broad set of stakeholders. With a focus on interoperability, the group brings a diverse range of participants together to offer an IIAS solution that is recognized industry-wide.

As of January 1, 2008, the IRS requires 'non-healthcare' retailers, such as supermarkets, grocery stores, discount stores, warehouse clubs, and mail-order merchants, that sell medical goods and services to maintain a point-of-sale system that effectively identifies eligible transactions when consumers use flexible spending account (FSA) and health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) debit cards.

IIAS-compliant transactions enable real-time, auto-substantiation for eligible medical items purchased with an FSA/HRA payment card. Implementation of the voluntary SIGIS standard will lead to a more efficient healthcare expense payment mechanism for consumers who can continue using their FSA/HRA payment cards at participating retailers after the January 1, 2008 deadline. As of January 1, 2009, the IRS requires most pharmacy retailers to operate an IIAS. Some of these merchants also intend to implement the SIGIS standard in 2008, well ahead of the IRS deadline.