Financing? Why the extra fee?

[mattsmom1 0]

Hi All,

I was approved for a loan through Med Loan and was ready to sign until I got my loan papers. The loan officer said I qualified for $11600. But when I got the paperwork it said I need to pay back 15,000.:thumbdown: A nice even number right? Well on the paperwork the $3400 is the "Provider Adjustment Amount" I called Med Loan and they said that was added because it's not a secured loan. Not sure what that means. Maybe cause I didn't use our house as collateral? I called my dr's office and they said that Care Credit would also have an additional fee.

Can anyone explain this? I was wondering if I could get another type of loan to avoid paying this fee. My credit is good so that's not a problem. Frustrating when all of the sudden a hidden fee comes up and I don't want to be naive or regret not shopping around. I don't have a problem with financing and paying I just want to make an informed decision. This whole process is new and so many hoops to go through before surgery. Yes, even for self payers. I thought it would have been easier. Anyways, thanks in advance for any advice on this matter. By the way my surgery date is Dec 14. yeah

Michele:smile:

[Donna113 2]

Capital One didn't assess any additional fees. Of course a lot has changed in the financial market in the past month.

[rodriguezequal 3]

I use care credit and they didn't put on that big of a fee if any....Most loans you do have to pay back the money with interest and what not...? As a self payer I went in for my psych eval and my nurses consultation and the next day was my surgeons consult and then about 6 days later I was having my surgery so I didn't really have to jump through any hoops...?

Edited November 14, 2008 by rodriguezequal
Forgot something

[alegna242 1]

I've also heard of Drs. charging an extra "fee" if you are financing the whole surgery amount. I think it was some horrid amount like 10%!! Sure the $9500 special sounds good, until you add on that!! And they say self pay is so much easier, you have to pay it back with interest and you've got to worry about the Dr. locations like a used car dealerships! Give me a 6mo supervised diet and a stack of paperwork ANYDAY! :thumbup:

[mattsmom1 0]

Thank you for your replies. I think my dr. office only accepts Med Loan and Care Credit. I don't mind paying the interest because that is expected. Although when you add an additional 10% my loan went from 11600 to 20,000 with the fee plus interest. We are going to pay it off in a year and it will become interest free.

As far as the hoops, some drs dont require psych, nutrition, and GI. If you are selfpaying. Well, my dr. does require those, so I had to go to many appts. I didn't have any comorbidities to help me qualify for my ins. to pay.

I don't want to sound so negative, I was just wondering how other self payers handle these things. I am really excited to finally take control of my weight and lose the pounds.

Thanks again for listening.

[Donna113 2]

Give me a 6mo supervised diet and a stack of paperwork ANYDAY! :thumbup:

I think all of us who were self-pay would have jumped through those hoops if we could have but in my case, my emloyer had a WLS exclusion on our insurance plan so even if I offered to jump through hoops of fire, it would have done me absolutely no good.

[*slim* 2]

Thank you for your replies. I think my dr. office only accepts Med Loan and Care Credit.

Did you try Care Credit because they were offering interest free for 18 months? Just a thought since your doctor does accept that. Good luck no matter what way you decide to go!

[Losing 2 0]

I was approved by SugeryLoans at first; once I received the loan papers, I couldn't believe the fees and things I had to do to complete the process - I canceled. I'd used CareCredit for dental procedures and decided to go that route. No extra fees at all and interest rate was worth it (to me). I wanted this bad! If I continue to double my payments, I'll be done very soon. It was absolutely painless... so easy, I was almost afraid !

BTW: If all needed for my Aetna insurance was a 6 mo. diet... yep, I would have done it {it would only be a hiccup compared to ALL of the many diets I've been on}. But, they needed way more - for instance, I needed to have a few comorbidities... So, I didn't think I'd wait until my health failed even more?:wink2:

[mattsmom1 0]

Thank you everyone with your suggestions and help. I got approved with Care Credit. Care Credit charges my dr. 5.9% of the amount borrowing so my dr. adds that to my bill. It's like sometimes I get charged a fee for using an ATM card at certain places. My dr. also uses my medical loan for financing (which i didn't know til yesterday). I will know today if I am approved. My back up plan is Care Credit a 600 fee is much much better than 3400 medloan wanted.

BTW i didn't have any comobidities either. I keep asking my husband you think I have sleep apnea. Nope. I just can't wait to have this done!!!!

Good luck everyone!

[Losing 2 0]

Best of Luck to you.

I am sooo very glad I did this!!

[alegna242 1]

So if I'm understanding you alright, the $600 fee your talking about is the 5.9 % from your Dr.? I got approved thru Care Credit too so I am curious on your amounts. Can you PM me a breakdown of what your payments are/will be etc? PLEASE? Besides that, GOOD FOR YOU and Thanks!