LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediSwipe Inc. (www.MediSwipe.com) (OTCBB:MWIP), a patient security solutions and financial products company for the medicinal marijuana and health care industry, today announced that the state of Michigan has received in excess of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) as the result of medical marijuana legislation from tax revenues in a report released yesterday.
The annual report to the state Legislature as required by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act shows that over $10 million in revenue was collected from administration of the state's medical marijuana program in 2012, more than double the cost of running the program. The state collected ten million in application fees from medical cannabis patients during its most recent budget year, which ended Sept. 30. After subtracting costs, Michigan netted a surplus of more than $5 million through the program, according to the new report.
Based on this information, the state could make tens of millions of dollars more by putting a system in place to regulate dispensaries and collect special taxes on cannabis sales rather than hinder the industry by cracking down on it. Revenues from the program are on the rise, increasing more than 10 percent from the $9 million recorded during the previous fiscal year, because of a rise in the overall number of patients.
"We believe that our B2B model with dispensaries, caregivers and states within legal jurisdictions will provide a meaningful revenue model for our Company. By providing digital patient records in our cloud based HIPAA compliant environment, MediPay kiosks which will provide accurate records of medicine transactions, and now merchant services directly with the states for patient applications and renewal fees, we have positioned ourselves strategically, and are poised to become the vendor of choice and leader within the sector with a residual business model. We have proven ourselves over the years as the first payment processor in this industry, and we are now bridging relationships with Michigan and other states to provide merchant services and a direct relationship for merchant processing related to patient applications and renewals to ease the backlog of paperwork via check payments. We believe this segment could create a 100 million dollar merchant portfolio if the states come onboard with our banks," stated B. Michael Friedman, CEO for MediSwipe.
According to the state's MMJ website, there are currently 124,417 active registered patients – up from 60,000 two years ago – and another 25,857 caregivers. Several areas of the state saw particularly large patient growth, including Cass County (which reported a 56% increase during the last fiscal year), Muskegon County (44%) and Berrien County (37%), according to the Associated Press. Most patients in Michigan pay an annual fee of $100 for their medical marijuana cards, although some low-income residents qualify for a reduced rate of $25. Caregivers also pay a fee. That money is then used to cover the cost of the program, and any surplus goes into the state's coffers.
Not a single medical marijuana card was revoked in 2012, suggesting that participants are not carelessly sharing their medicine with friends or school children, as lawmakers in Arizona have recently fretted about in dealing with their own medical marijuana program.
About MediSwipe Inc.
MediSwipe Inc. (www.MediSwipe.com) provides innovative patient solutions for electronically processing transactions within the medical marijuana and healthcare industry. MediSwipe provides terminal-based service packages and an integrated Web Portal add-ons for physicians, clinics, hospitals and medical dispensaries that include: digital patient records, Electronic Referrals, Credit/Debit Card merchant services, Check Guarantee and Accounts Receivable Financing.
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