Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Medical Loan


1. Medical Loan Overview

A healthcare or medical loan is often a great idea because it will give you the funds to pay your doctors and you can achieve the desired health outcomes without going broke.

Even with the help of insurance, many of us still cannot afford to pay our medical bills. Health insurance helps, but when you are forced to go to doctors that are not in the “system” or worse yet, hospitals that do not work with your insurance company because they are the only ones available to you, medical bills can pile up quickly. When there are medical bills piling up and you still have more procedures that need to be performed you do not have to sit around and wait for the day when you can afford to pay the bills and have the procedures done. You can apply for a healthcare or medical loan so that you are able to pay your medical bills or afford those long awaited procedures without going broke. A healthcare or medical loan is often a great idea because it will give you the funds to pay your doctors and you can achieve the desired health outcomes without going broke.

While health insurance is useful, it doesn’t take care of all of our medical bills and this is where healthcare loans come into play. The loan doesn’t do away with the necessity to pay your medical bills; instead it just makes it more affordable for you to do so. Instead of ignoring the creditors calling your home asking when you’ll be sending them their money you can pay your bills and then pay back your healthcare or medical loan at a rate that is in line with what you earn and should be expected to pay.

2. Who Gets a Healthcare or Medical Loan?

When you first learn about a healthcare or medical loan you may think that it doesn’t apply to your situation. Perhaps you have just $10,000 worth of medical bills, which isn’t all that much in the world of medical and healthcare bills and you think that a medical loan is only for those that have hundreds of thousands of dollars due to hospitals and doctors so you shouldn’t apply. This isn’t at all the case, in fact many people have secured a healthcare or medical loan for just a few hundred dollars because they could not afford to pay all of their bills right now, but they could afford to pay back their healthcare loan over a period of a year or two.

Often times, individuals have to secure a healthcare or medical bill after they have incurred the expenses, but often times people know in advance that they will be receiving healthcare that they cannot pay for so they apply before they incur those charges. This means that if you know you will be going in for a major spinal surgery in five weeks, you can apply now and actually pay your bills as you go instead of letting them build up and getting creditors after you. This will help to lessen the stress that you feel during the recovery period so that you can simply rest and get back on your feet again.

Of course, it is not always possible to plan ahead for expensive medical treatment, so you can always apply for such a loan after the fact. Whatever your situation is and whatever procedures you’ve had done, you should definitely consider getting a healthcare or medical loan to help you spread the payments out over a period of time instead of owing it all right now. There are lenders that will approve a healthcare or medical loan for just about any procedure you can think of, so it won’t hurt to apply, and chances are you’ll be provided with some relief so it’s worth the time that it takes to apply.

3. What Do You Need a Healthcare Loan For?

A healthcare or medical loan is exactly that, a loan that is used for the purposes of paying off medical and healthcare expenses. These can be bills from doctors, hospitals, insurance co-payments, equipment needed, medication, and even transportation to and from medical facilities. Basically any charge that you incur going to or from a medical procedure or doctor visit you can pay off with a healthcare or medical loan.

Most of the time individuals take out a healthcare or medical loan when they are over their heads in medical bills. This can be after a heart attack, stroke, catastrophic car accident, prolonged illness, or an injury that takes you away from work. All of these things will have the bills piling up faster than you would have previously imagined; especially if you needed emergency services such as treatment in the emergency room, emergency surgery, or the help of specialists.

Knowing in advance that you will be accumulating a lot of medical bills can be beneficial, but it usually doesn’t work that way! We all know that medical bills are stressful and when you are healing from any event or surgery you can find peace of mind knowing that a loan has taken care of all of your outstanding debts and you can pay off your loan at a rate that is much more comfortable than trying to pay off all of your medical bills at once. A healthcare or medical loan is simply a good idea if you are going to end up over your head in medical bills that you cannot possibly pay, but need to because you may need continuing care.

4. Finding a Healthcare or Medical Loan

It usually isn’t all that difficult to find a healthcare or medical loan, in fact if you are in a large hospital you may be able to find literature right there about lenders that help people pay their medical bills. If you cannot find any literature, you’ll find that the Internet is a great resource. More and more lenders offer quotes and applications for loans of all types on the Internet and healthcare and medical loans are not any different. When you apply online you can often get an approval within a few minutes or hours, so you are not left wondering how you will pay your medical bills.

Using an Internet lender is also very convenient because you can apply from home and if you are recovering this couldn’t be more convenient. The last thing you want to do if you are ill and worried about money is to call people, receive faxes, and meet in offices, so at least you can get the application portion of your healthcare loan completed from the comfort of your own home. The best thing is, if your loan is denied or you are not offered as big a loan as you had hoped, you don’t have to be embarrassed because you never looked anyone in the eye and chances are they will never even see your name again! This takes a lot of the stress out of the loan application process, which is intensified when it comes to paying for healthcare and medical bills.

If you don’t have any luck with Internet lenders, the yellow pages or even your own bank can often be very helpful. Phone books are full of lenders that will help people from just about any walk of life with any credit history, so don’t hesitate to pick it up and see if there is someone that can help you get your bills paid. Not all banks offer healthcare and medical loans, but they may be able to offer you a loan that will basically do the same thing, which is get the bills paid so you don’t have to worry about them right now. There are a lot of places to find a healthcare loan, so don’t give up if one lender doesn’t pan out or things aren’t as great as you thought they would be. There are many different types of loans out there, and loans are not one size fits all so search for the one that is right for you.

5. Why Get a Loan?

Medical bills are one of those things that most people have; in fact, a good portion of the population has delinquent medical bills listed on their credit reports. Unfortunately, many people think that this is the way that it has to be, that their credit has to suffer because they cannot afford to pay outrageous medical bills. The fact is you don’t have to let your credit rating suffer because your medical insurance doesn’t cover everything you need them to cover, or if you’ve exceeded your insurance benefits for the year. A medical loan should simply be looked at as a way to pay back your medical bills in an efficient manner.

If you can’t afford to pay your bills, it simply makes sense to get a loan to pay them off, which is essentially what this sort of loan is out there for. Even if you have medical bills from several procedures, a medical loan is a great way to consolidate your medical debt and get it all paid off with one loan. What is great about this is that you don’t have to make several different payments a month, when you pay off your medical bills with a healthcare loan you can then make one monthly payment just to the lender. This is a lot easier to keep track of, and in the long much more affordable and a lot less stressful. You’ll pay interest, but it’s worth it to get the bills paid in a timely manner and then be able to pay back the loan at a rate that is affordable to you.

6. Repayment Terms of a Healthcare or Medical Loan

A healthcare or medical loan is just like any other loan, you’ll have repayment terms that you will have to stick to or you’ll have the creditors calling again. Not only that, but if your healthcare loan was of substantial size you may have had to put up a collateral such as your home. If you don’t understand your loan repayment terms you could end up jeopardizing your home or the collateral that you put up. It’s very important that you understand and adhere to the repayment terms.

The length of your loan may depend on how much you have borrowed and how much you earn, as this will depend on how quickly you can pay back the loan. When you apply for the loan the lender will ask for all of your financial information, so they will be able to determine how much you can afford each month and your repayment terms will typically be based on this. Some medical loans are paid off in just six months while others last for a term of five years.

Your repayment can be based on an interest rate that is fixed or variable, and can depend on if you make a larger down payment or if you’ll expect balloon payments at the end of the loan term. When your loan officer goes over these details with you, make sure to pay attention and even ask to have things explained twice, just so that there aren’t any surprises down the line. Nothing is worse than finding out you have a medical loan that is more of a pain than creditors would have been calling your home morning, noon, and night.

7. The Fine Print

It’s important when you apply for a healthcare or medical loan that you read all of the fine print associated with the specific loan plan that you are applying for. The fine print is there because it has to be by law, but it’s small because they are usually the details that make the loan not as appealing as it might be at first glance. In the fine print you may find information about loan fees, attorney fees, credit report fees, annual usage fees, and more. All of these fees that they mention in an offhand manner can end up costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars when all is said and done, and may make the medical loan less than ideal for you. You may also find information regarding the need for large down payments, a variable interest rate, or even balloon payments near the end of your loan term.

It’s a good idea to read all of the fine print at least twice, but three times would be even better. If you have any questions, be sure to ask your loan officer to explain it all to you. According to the Truth in Lending Act your lender has to be upfront and honest with you about all of the information regarding interest rate, fees associated with your loan, and any other concerns regarding what one would be expected to pay in association with their loan. The fine print is where less than ideal loans are found out, so make sure to read this information for yourself.

8. Refinancing

Many loans come with the ability to refinance them, so when you have paid a portion of your loan back you can refinance it and lower your monthly payments. When you apply for your loan you can ask if there will be the ability to refinance after a certain period, if at all. Many types of loans offer refinancing, but whether or not you can refinance your healthcare or medical loan will depend on the size of the loan and who your lender is as well as your past payment history.

If refinancing isn’t discussed at the time when you apply for your loan, you should ask that the option to refinance be put into your contract. This doesn’t mean that the lender will agree, but it is a good idea to have the ability to do this, just incase. If for some reason your financial situation changes and you cannot afford to keep paying your monthly payment on the loan, refinancing can often lower your payment substantially and this will lessen the burden. Refinancing isn’t always an option with a healthcare loan, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

9. When to Get a Medical Loan

Anytime is a good time to get a medical loan. You can get it before treatments and bills come in so that you can use the loan much like you would use a credit card, or you can get the loan after the procedures and bills so that you can take the stress out of paying them! It’s up to you when you get your medical loan, but if you know that you will need some help paying bills it’s always a good idea to do it in advance. You will usually need a dollar amount to apply for and you will also need to be able to tell the lender what procedures you are having done, but you can get the loan in advance.
Healthcare Loan and Health Insurance

Many people believe that they cannot get a healthcare loan if they have health insurance, but this is not the case. The fact is that insurance doesn’t pay 100% of your bill, so if you have a major procedure you can be left with thousands to pay. A healthcare loan is for anyone that needs help paying their bills, regardless of their insurance situation. Your insurance company will not object to the loan, in fact, they may never know about it if you don’t want them to unless the lender needs to verify your coverage but this can often be done through the doctors and medical providers that you are paying off with the medical loan.

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