I'd never heard of such a
thing, but the manager
assured me that enrolling
would be quick and easy as
she handed me the phone.
She wasn't kidding. I
applied and got approved in
a few minutes. I used my
new card number to pay
the $2,000 and back to the
suite my son went.
It seemed almost too
good to be true, but it got
even better when my first
statement arrived about a
month later. My 24-month
deferred-interest loan real-
ly was essentially interest-
free. Of course, free
financing came with a not-so-small catch. The loan was interest-free
only if I didn't miss an $84 monthly payment and paid it off in 24
months (the longest payback period this lender offered). Otherwise,
the lender would have charged me all the interest that had accrued
from the time of the transaction. That would have been an insanely
high interest rate of about 26%. Fortunately, I didn't miss a month, so I
wasn't slammed with a balloon payment at the end of the loan term.
Not only did a healthcare credit card turn my $2,000 deductible into
24 low monthly payments, but the oral surgeon's office made out, too.
The lender deposited $1,802 into the practice's bank account within 2
days and kept $128 as a transaction fee (9.9% for a 24-month term).
4 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 1 8
Who wants to be told that they
can't have their procedure because
they don't have enough money?
But insurance has put so many of
our patients in that position.
