Overdose of debt: Lenders push risky credit for everything from cancer to Botox
Source: Consumer Reports

When you’re buying a new car or a plasma TV, you’re on guard against high-pressure sales pitches and finance schemes that benefit the seller’s bottom line rather than yours. But such tactics are probably the last thing you’d expect at a doctor’s or dentist’s office.

Yet credit cards and finance lines that can reach exorbitant interest rates are being pitched to consumers seeking medical care, either directly or through their medical professionals.

Lenders tout this as a way for patients to cover medical needs or elective procedures. Citi Health Card offers plans at “participating providers that allow you to get the treatments you need right now.” A promo for CapitalOne Healthcare Finance says, “Expert cosmetic surgery and procedures like liposuction, hair restoration, tummy tucks, and more are now within reach.”

The cards and financing are promoted to doctors, dentists, and veterinarians as a way to make more money and get paid promptly. GE Money CareCredit provides this testimonial from Laser Elite, a hair and skin clinic in McLean, Va.: “Having CareCredit has definitely had a positive impact on our business. It helps us attract more patients and has increased our sales by 25 percent.”

Moreover, hospitals are checking credit scores of patients and even offering their own cobranded credit cards.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Business and economics, Consumer issues, Education, Health and healthcare, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.