Anybody use CareCredit?

[joshuagraham]

I've got some big dental bills coming up (#7 molar crown and and #5 implant abutment/crown replacement, both lower) and my dental provider gives 12 months interest free credit using this creditor. I put down that I wanted a $2500 limit, but they gave me $3000. It is affiliated with Synchrony Bank, and since I had gotten rejected when I applied for a regular CC from them a yer or so ago, I thought I would get rejected as well, but I was approved. Evidently, it only works with providers that are signed up, but it can cover anything related to health care - even veterinarian care for the pet.

This brings up a question of how does an interest-free term offer get organized. If I had to guess, I'd imagine that the vendor pays some sort of fee to the creditor if the customer milks the interest-free term but then pays it off when it adjusts, but also shares in the profit if the customer continues on at the super high interest rate.

[justbroke]

This brings up a question of how does an interest-free term offer get organized. If I had to guess, I'd imagine that the vendor pays some sort of fee to the creditor if the customer milks the interest-free term but then pays it off when it adjusts, but also shares in the profit if the customer continues on at the super high interest rate.

I believe that the vendor is charged a "discount rate" no differently than if you used a credit card, albeit the discount rate may be higher. The discount rate is the difference between the sale amount and what the vendor actually receives. I'm guessing that the average discount rate (processing fee) is at least 10% and could be as high as 20%.

The doctors are paid almost immediately. One of the biggest expenses with doctors is dealing with billing and collections. There are other companies that actually buy medical account payables and offer the doctors pennies on the dollars (albeit these pennies are more like 70%-90% on the dollar). Many private practices are actually bad with managing their AP so this service makes it cleaner. Just think that you could probably eliminate most things dealing with collections and that you never take anyone on credit (or hardly) by forcing them to pay at time of service. Wait... isn't that what most medical practices have started to do? Payment at time of service?

CareCredit for Medical Professionals

• The practice receives payment in 2 business days less a processing fee which varies by financing option used
• The practice has no responsibility if the patient delays payment or defaults

[ben1381]

I just got to say we use Care Credit for veterinary bills and they are fine.

[tess_bk]

I've had a CareCredit card since about 2007, I've used it for both dental and veterinary bills and they've been fine.