Www CareCredit com and medical treatment is expensive. In addition to rent or mortgages, medical expenses are probably one of the biggest monthly budgets for many people. Paying for health care can be an economic burden and a major challenge.
To help consumers cope with this challenge, several well-known banks and healthcare companies, including GE Capital, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Capital One, United Health Group, and Humana, have launched credit cards specifically designed to pay for the high cost of healthcare.
Although many of these companies have left the industry, medical credit cards are still available. A close look at CareCredit, the industry's largest provider of medical credit cards, provides insight into the prospects and risks of medical credit cards.
How It Works Of Www CareCredit Com
CareCredit has signed agreements with several healthcare providers that accept CareCredit cards as payment for their services. The card can be used to pay for traditional medical insurance co-payment for covered services or optional medical procedures not covered by the traditional insurance plan.
The services range from doctors, dentists, and surgical centers to vision care and hearing centers, hair repair and even veterinary services. The cardholder only needs to log into the CareCredit website and enter the postcode to find the local provider of the cardholder.
By using the CareCredit card, consumers are eligible to participate in short-term financing activities and can pay interest-free for 6, 12, 18 or 24 months as long as they spend at least $200 and pay all bills within the agreed time. The minimum purchase amount is $2500, which can be extended to 60 months, and the interest rate is as low as 14.9%.
The Voice Of CareCredit
The voice of CareCredit is a member-based online community composed of voluntary CareCredit cardholders. We regularly ask them through online surveys to provide us with their opinions and feedback. As a member of the voice of care advisory group, you will receive:
Give input and feedback through surveys or online discussion forums
Tell us what you think about your experiences with CareCredit and how we do business
Be entered into a sweepstakes
Have a sneak peek at products and promotions
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Let The Buyer Beware
While their marketing strategy focuses on providing affordable healthcare services, CareCredit and other healthcare credit card companies make money in their operations. They do not provide interest financing and expect many consumers to over-expand and fail to pay their bills in full, resulting in expensive financing costs.
Or consumers just misunderstood the terms. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency found that CareCredit "misled some consumers in the registration process and did not provide sufficient guidance on clearly defining the terms of deferred interest loans." Such loans assess interest throughout the promotion period from the date of purchase.
if cardholders fail to pay their debts in full by the end of that period, they must pay all accrued interest, not just interest on the remaining balance. In 2013, he ordered CareCredit, then a subsidiary of GE Capital, to return $34.1 million to cardholders. In response, the company and the service provider jointly created a CareCredit certification, "to ensure that each CareCredit card applicant has a clear and easy to understand financing plan statement."
It is worth noting that the company's "promotional financing options" (i.e. financing options without interest or with relatively low-interest rates) are not available to every supplier. Cardholders should consult their service providers to determine the options available.
Carecredit also advises cardholders to "only pay the minimum amount on your account every month, and cannot pay off the balance before the end of the promotion period", and contact the company to ensure that you have paid the correct amount for "taking advantage of your special financing offer".
For the products of CareCredit. A survey of medical credit cards conducted by an organization called consumer action found that other providers of medical credit cards did the same.
The Bottom Line
The medical credit card provides a way to make medical expenses more manageable. Of course, consumers must remember that the financing behind these credit cards is provided by profit-making companies.
If you are not careful, you may pay a lot of money out of the related expenses. Like all credit cards, medical oriented credit cards should be used prudently and responsibly. This includes reading the details, fully understanding the terms and related fees.
For more information on managing healthcare costs, see how to avoid healthcare debt and 20 ways to save healthcare costs. For more information about credit cards, see credit cards: introduction.