How to pay? I'm going to cry.

[GoDawgs 0]

Here's my situation. I'm a full time student and have no income. My husband is a teacher and doesn't make a lot of money ($43,000). My credit is good and his is extremely bad. I plan to have surgery in May. My insurance doesn't cover it and paying out of pocket would wipe out our savings. I feel like we should have some money in the bank in case there is a complication that we have to pay for out of pocket. So I planned to fiance the surgery through Monarch financing. In order to get a good interest rate I'd like to not put DH's name on the application. Also, we may not qualify for $15,000 on his income. However, my dad makes six figures, has very little debt, and excellent credit. He is willing to co-sign. Do you think I could borrow the money in my name with my dad as a co-signer?

Here's another big problem - I just read that the longest loan term from Monarch is 3 years. This would make the payment about $500 a month, which would be extremely hard for us on DH's income when we also have to pay for my school expenses. I was hoping to have at least 5 years to repay. I've researched a lot of places online and they all require your doctor to be a participating doctor in the plan. My doctor does not participate in these financing plans and recommends Monarch, which allows you to use whatever doctor you wish. I tried to read about availabel loans from my bank, but it looks like the only option is a secured loan. My husband and I don't own anything of value, so we need an unsecured loan.

Are there ANY companies that allow you to pick your own doctor and who have 5 year terms???

[GeezerSue 7]

1--I know zip about financing.

2--Your husband probably has--or can set up--a Section 125 account at work. (You may have to wait until the new school- or calendar-year, but it could be worth it.) Once the first payment is withheld, he can take it all out.

3--You can get student loans--PLUS loans, even, that will let you spread the payments out over 20 years, and at a low interest rate. Exceptional medical expenses are exceptional medical expenses.

4--From Atlanta, consider going to Monterrey, Mexico (via Houston) to have surgery with one of the doctors who actually taught the US doctors how to do it...and for about $10,000, not $15,000.

I can probably come up with more, but stop crying and get to work, Girl! There's always a way!

Sue

[Alexandra 55]

Sue has great advice for you. And I also know little about financing, and less about Monarch, but it seems to me that a personal loan from any bank would be better than what they've described for you. With your father co-signing you should be able to borrow what you need from a regular bank, I would think.

[~c~ 1]

When I first started looking into this my doctor told me that a bank loan is better than financing from a med loan company.

less interest ect...

Good luck

C

[Big AL 0]

If your father makes 6 figures a year and has little debt would he loan you the money himself? You can set up a payment plan on paper so it would be legal? Just an idea....

[shellyj 5]

hey i agree with big al! if your pops makes 6 figures AND has little debt maybe he'd do a personnal loan for you?

[GoDawgs 0]

I don't feel comfortable asking my dad for money. He paid for undergrad, bought me a new car when I graduated undergrad, has spent about $40,000 helping me with law school, and just spent $30,000 on my wedding. I wish when I started wedding planning that I had known I would decide to get the lap band. Then I would have have a very simple wedding and asked my dad to help with the surgery. Oh well. He and my mom want to build a vacation home that the have been dreaming about for years and I just don't feel right asking for a loan.

[GeezerSue 7]

As a six-figure parent of an adult child, I applaud your independent spirit.

Is your husband a public school employee? Does his employer have Section 125 accounts available? (Almost all do.) If you don't know how that works, I can 'splain it to ya...but I don't want to bother with it if you already know. A little financed via Section 125 and little via an additional student loan for medical expenses (and a ten year payback at about 4%) ought to do it.

Good luck!

Sue

[GoDawgs 0]

Well, my parents started asking my husband about how we were going to pay for the surgery. When he told them that we might end up with a $500/mo payment while I'm still in school they offered to put it on their credit card and we'll pay them $200/month. My mom brought it up with me today and assures me that she and my dad really are ok with doing this. I have such great parents! Once I get out of law school and have a job I should be able to pay it back pretty quickly, so I guess I don't feel bad about this arrangement.

[GoDawgs 0]

My husband is a private school employee

[GeezerSue 7]

Good deal. Now don't choose the surgeon based on cost alone. The learning curve requires about 50 LapBand placements. (All LapBand surgeons are experienced at laporoscopic surgery, which is nice, but doesn't cut it. Kinda like saying, "Sure! He's parallel parked his MiniCooper thousands of times, so I'm sure he'll be just fine parallel parking that set of doubles." The experience with the specific surgery at hand is what counts.)

Good luck on your doctor-hunt!

[CathyFalb 0]

I'm glad your parents are willing to help you. I am a Financial Aid Specialist at a college and I can tell you that you would not be able to get enough student loans or plus loans in a semester to pay for your surgery. You would however be able to pay the note easier if you got loans each semester. I just don't know if it would be worth it to get student loans to pay another loan back and still have to make payment to the student loan. I think you should go with the arrangement with your parents. It sounds like you have wonderful parents. Good luck!

[shellyj 5]

thats great news!!!