financing

Today I want to talk a little more in detail about the option of using medical loans to pay for your infertility treatments, or finance them if you want to be a stickler about it. Financing IVF treatment can be a good option if you do not have the cash or liquid assets to fully pay for your treatment. Most fertility clinics expect to be paid up front when they know your treatment will not be covered by insurance, so you will need to come up with the funds from somewhere. While this practice is good business from the fertility clinic’s standpoint, it can be decidedly inconvenient, not to mention stressful, for the patient.

Medical financing or loans have become more common way for people to pay for procedures and treatments that are partially or not covered at all by insurance. These financing companies also tend to add on a healthy interest rate on any money they lend you. As such there are lots of options and companies out there that will loan you money for your treatments, be it for infertility or any other elective procedures you might want to undergo.

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As with all loans: the interest rates and loan maximums are heavily influenced by your credit score and assets. Remember these companies are doing this to make money and they will not lend you more money than they think you can repay, either in money or assets. CAUTION:If you do not think you will be able to repay a loan offered by one of these companies then you should not take their money! Always read the fine print and know exactly what you are agreeing to when you sign for any type of loan.

I do not personally guarantee any of these services, I am merely trying to give you some of the options out there. I can’t stress how important it is for you to do your homework with these companies and make the choice that makes the most sense to you!

Before you accept any loans make sure they will work with your clinic. some financing companies prefer to pay the clinic directly and might not work with some clinics out there. Just save yourself the headache and make sure all the pieces fit :)

Ok, now for a few of the medical financing companies out there:

Springstone

This site offers an array of medical financing options, with an easy online application. Approval is often instantaneous. (they want to make it as easy as possible to take their money) Highlights of the service are below.

interest rates ranging from 3.99% to 17.99%
loans up to $40k
Payment schedules ranging from 6 months to 84 months, with no prepayment penalties
Interest free loans available
Monthly payments as low as $25 or 4% (whichever is greater

Medicalfinancing.com

This site promises to make obtaining medical financing easy, with a simple online application that you can fill out. They will then contact you and discuss the details on what they are willing to offer you. Highlights of the service are detailed below

Low rates starting at 7.24% to 22.99%

Payment schedules vary from 12 to 84 months, with no prepayment penalty
Interest free & Same as Cash options available
Loans up to $30k
Payments as low as 1% of your balance
1% cash back rewards program

United Medical Credit

Another service catering to all sorts of medical loans. They offer an online application, although don’t say anything about instant approvals. They are quite vague with the details of their loans – saving those juicy details till they get you on the phone. More details below:

no mention as to what their interest rates are, although they call them “competitive”
Multiple loan term plans to choose from, with no prepayment penalty
Loans up to $20k
Same as cash financing options
Interest free financing options

CosmetiCredit

Another service that doesn’t provide a whole lot of information on its website. They offer:

Convenient minimum monthly payments
Quick and simple application process
Instant credit decisions
Accepted by Physicians Everywhere: The CosmetiCredit program is available in all 50 states
Physician Pre-Payment: Cosmeticredit can pay the doctor up to 2 weeks prior to your procedure

American Benefit Credit

A well known financing company that offers both secured and unsecured loans for a variety of reasons. The secured loans offer much better rates, although with more risk if you were to default. They offer:

24, 36, 48, 60 & 72 month plan options
We finance from $1,000 to over $100,000
Interest rates from 1% APR* (Secured Loans offer lower rates)
Low Monthly Payments and affordable rates

MedLoan Financial

MedLoan offers loans for a variety of different services, including infertility. Their benefits include:

Amounts from $500 to $100,000
Lowest Interest Rates Available
6-21 Months Interest Free
No Pre-payment Penalty

Your own bank may also offer medical financing – although this will most likely be in the form of a secured loan (backed by some form of your capital assets: house, car, ..etc). If you have an existing mortgage you may be able to leverage that for an additional line of credit, or loan to use for your fertility procedures. As I said above, just be very careful with what you sign!

I hope this list was of some use to you. If you have any questions or comments please let me know below.

Cheers!

Paying for IVF can be emotional and troubling affair

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a great technique in the infertility MD’s arsenal that has helped countless couple’s conceive over the years. Due to the complexity of the modern IVF process it can also be rather expensive. A single cycle, without any insurance can cost upwards of 30K when you include medications and some auxiliary treatments such as PGD or Donor eggs. I am going to list some of the ways you can pay for the costs of IVF.

Have great insurance (for a lucky few)

This is a great option for a small few. The truth is, the majority of people will not have sufficient insurance to fully cover their fertility treatments. More likely, your insurance will cover some/most of the diagnostic phase of infertility and very little, or none of the actual treatments required to help you get pregnant. The sad fact is that most insurance companies treat any medical intervention to have kids as “elective” treatments, not as a medical necessity. As such, the total price of IVF will likely fall entirely on you to pay for.

Pay Cash

This is a good option for those with large amounts of cash, and/or semi-liquid assets floating around. Chances are the interest rates you would have been earning with those funds were far less than what you might pay with other options. Another advantage is many clinics will be able to negotiate their prices down (usually only applicable if you do not go through your insurance company). If you are doing well enough financially to have this kind of money floating around then you will likely want to put the expenses on your reward cards (see next item) for that extra % back.

Credit Card(s)

Credit cards are great for those who will be able to pay off the balance within a couple months (the earlier the better). Reward cards are the way to go here – giving you the opportunity to earn miles/cash back/ or other rewards on the money you were going to spend anyways. On the down side: credit cards often have high interest rates and the longer you carry a balance the more interest you will end up paying. Introductory offers and balance transfers can also be used to save money. Be aware that opening up new lines of credit, or high % credit card utilization can affect your credit score negatively.

Financing

Getting a loan from a finance company can be the way to go if you don’t have the money to pay for your treatments, but can manage a monthly payment. When you shop around for medical loans be aware that they might have higher %APR than other kinds of loans. If you own your own home consider taking out a line of credit on it, or using some of your equity. You can often lockdown a much more attractive rate than if you went with a medical loan. The IVF clinic you are working with might have a few outfits they recommend so don’t hesitate to ask them.

Friends/Family

I wasn’t going to mention this but asking your friends and family can be a great way to raise some/all the money required for your fertility treatments. Asking others for money can be difficult, at best, and most people don’t like to do it. Thank goodness for the internet! Sites such as Gogetfunding.com or gofundme.com (follow the links for two examples of couples asking for donations for their IVF treatment) take much of the unpleasantness out of the ordeal and make the whole process much easier to manage.

fill in the ________

What is this option? You tell me. I have covered many of the main ways to fund your IVF treatment, but my list is not complete. Did I leave something out? Let us know in the comments!!

Financing options for your In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)