Healthcare is a vital resource for everybody, but many patients struggle to pay for unexpected medical expenses that come up throughout their life. Some patients even avoid seeing medical professionals because of the fear that they may not be able to pay for the bill that comes afterward. As a result, the cost of healthcare has remained a hot-button issue in the United States for a long time.
One of the ways that healthcare providers can alleviate their patients’ stress, and get them in the door for necessary medical care that they may not have gotten otherwise, is to offer patient financing programs to break up the cost.
Healthcare financing comes in a few different forms:
Let’s break down each option and what type of patient would be best served by offering each.
Healthcare credit cards are pretty self-explanatory: They are credit cards that can only be used on medical expenses. These cards generally carry low interest compared to traditional credit cards and most even offer no-interest periods on purchases above a certain value. As long as consumers make their payments on time, they will not be charged interest during these periods.
These cards are a great option for older patients or chronic care recipients that frequently have to pay deductibles or out-of-pocket costs not covered by insurance. Having this card handy ensures that patients don’t have to worry about not having the cash on hand for their care and allows them the freedom to see their care provider whenever they need to without working around the days they receive their income.
One of the more common options on this list, medical loans are lump-sum loans for medical care. These loans are generally similar to regular personal loans, except they are usually reported in a way that doesn’t affect the “credit utilization” section of a patient’s credit file. Another key difference is that they often carry a grace period before they begin to accrue any interest.
Medical loans are great for patients in emergency situations or those looking to plan major surgical procedures that carry a high cost. They are best used for one-off medical situations, with the other options on this list being better for chronic needs.
Known in the retail space as “buy now, pay later (BNPL)” programs, these no-interest payment plans are simple payment plans that break up the cost of a purchase into multiple even payments. These patient financing programs are flexible, and term lengths can be adapted to work with any size bill. They charge no interest and don’t report to a credit bureau as long as payments are made on time, so patients’ credit will not be impacted.
BNPL programs are a great one-size-fits-all option for healthcare providers to offer patients. Since they can be adapted to work for any bill, patients can benefit whether they are struggling to pay a bill for $300 of diagnostics or a $10,000 operation. The only caveat for healthcare providers, or the lenders they work with, is that larger bills may provide too much risk to be covered without interest, in which case medical loans may be a better choice from a risk management perspective.
Skeps offers an end-to-end POS financing platform that can fit any provider's needs. We partner with a network of quality lenders to help healthcare providers offer convenient financing for their patients to keep them healthy.
Some benefits of working with Skeps include:
We make deployment easy, and providers that partner with us can offer patient financing programs within weeks. Skeps can automate the entire funding process with our top-of-the-line software platform so that providers can focus on doing what they do best—helping patients.
Do you have more questions about patient financing programs? Request a demo today or email us at support@skeps.com.