Dental Gold Diggers and Plastic Piranhas
Friday, 31 August 2007 Written by Kate Incontrera
Here's a story to make your stomach turn…with people less likely to use credit to buy cars or homes right now, the lending giants have found another "big ticket" item to cash in on: your health.
Credit card companies, led by Capital One (NYSE:COF), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and the CareCredit unit of General Electric (NYSE:GE), are offering zero-percent financin2g to those who qualify for not only procedures not typically covered by insurance, but for regular procedures.
The New York Times reports:
"Big insurers, too, are devising new financing plans with various payback options. Upstart players have also aggressively cut deals with doctors."
This is already so unethical on so many levels…but wait, there's more…
"The room for expansion looks ample, as rising deductibles, co-payments and other costs may force more of the nation's 250 million people with health insurance to finance out-of-pocket expenses for even basic medical care."
"'As more and more of the costs of care are shifted to consumers, people are going to need more credit,' said Red Gillen, a senior analyst at Celent, an insurance and banking research firm. 'They are still going to need health care.'"
The companies say that the zero-percent financing deals will allow patients to pay off their procedure with no interest rates - that is, until they miss a payment, or take too long to pay it off…then you are in it up to your ears.
The NYT continues:
"Some consumer debt experts warn that as more people try to bridge widening gaps in their health insurance, paying for medical care on credit could plunge the unwary into a financial crisis. In recent years, the use of high-interest credit cards to pay big medical bills has become a leading cause of consumer bankruptcy."
Here, we aren't sure who to be more disgusted with: the credit card companies for taking advantage of, in many cases, sick people - and the fact that more and more, even routine procedures aren't being covered by health insurance…
Or the health care companies for just, well, being slimy.
Or, you know, the government for backing these sleazy actions…
It's a toss up. And no matter which way you cut it, those in need of health care are being taken for a rid |
