anyone dealt with medmaxfinance?

[onethatcares]

with my wife being diagnosed with cancer we have started to run up some bills and the one hospital told us we could finance through medmaxfinance which offers a $25.00 a year credit card with a 0% interest rate for the first 6 months then it jumps to 5.99%. All well and good, right?

upon reading their cardholder agreement they want a signature to allow them to transfer the balance and change the terms at anytime at their discretion.

that sounds like setting up for a total screwing.

Any opinions?

[unblock]

1. i would be very wary.

i'm not an expert, but medical debt is treated differently from other debt in some respects. once you finance your medical debt in this fashion, it becomes ordinary credit card debt. they can screw your credit rating, e.g., in ways i don't think medical debtholders typically can or at least often don't do.

for instance, after a car accident (i was a passenger in a cab that stalled out in the middle of a freeway -- surprise, surprise, we got hit from behind) i was able to sit on my medical bills for 3 years simply by telling them there was a lawsuit pending. obviously, my credit rating would have been trashed had a credit card been involved.


my guess is that you'd be better off setting up a payment plan directly with your medical providers. they're also far more likely to knock something off what you owe if you say you're having trouble paying the full bill but want to pay most of it.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

7. Agree 100%.

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Yes, you need to be cautious

With this kind of thing. Doctors are now pushing these services as a means to get paid up front and some have a kickback, er, I mean "incentive" plan to push the products.

Do you have a link to the agreement? Also, what type of costs are we talking about here? What is your insurance status? Not to get nosey, but what type of cancer? Are you employed. All of these are factors that are germane to these types of decisions.

[onethatcares]

6. you would have to go to the website

for the credit card agreement. We have insurance but short term disability will soon be starting due to surgery. I am collecting social security and working part time..my wife is still working full time, but with surgery see above.

[onethatcares]

3. just read the cardholders agreement again

it's a trap.

it all becomes due and payable if you die or if you go bancrupt.

sheesh, these ghouls never stop.

just saw the reply above. it's cholangiocarcinoma or bilery tree cancer. original bill was 36k insurance settled for 34K leaving us 2K

[elleng]

4. Don't do it, period.

'Total screwing' is a kind way to put what they're setting people up for.

[Kelvin Mace]

5. Unblock speaks soothly

Med debt is classed differently.

http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/2014/08/08/new-fico-score-boost-credit-medical-bills-focus/

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

8. only in USA would we need to have this discussion

[hunter]

12. At least in any "First World" civilized nation.

The U.S.A. has never been a first world nation.

We're merely the top banana of the apartheid banana republics with an absurdly over-sized nuclear armed military and trigger happy white racist police forces.

[Cleita]

13. These credit schemes were first put up for people to get vanity surgeries, you know

face lifts, tummy tucks, breast enlargements and so on. You are right that it's a shame it has to be used for catastrophic disease treatment needs.

[UglyGreed]

9. I'm sorry about

your wife's cancer, I hope everything works out for the best. Sad you should need to worry about the bills on top of your wife's health.

[WhiteTara]

10. Have you checked out CareCredit?

You can get up to 2 or 3 years 0% depending on the amount. I got 1 year for $5000 dental.

[hunter]

11. Don't ever bring a credit card to a medical provider.

Okay, I'd sign almost anything at last resort to get appropriate medical care for a family member (if not myself), but still, for any very serious or potentially long lasting or chronic illness, putting medical expenses on a credit card can bite you back hard.

I speak from personal experience. I've learned to joke around with the medical debt collectors. Unless a medical debt collector is a very nasty human being, it's got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. There's no reason to be rude to employees who were probably desperate for work when they took the job.

The occasional sociopath debt collector who enjoys threatening people buried in medical debt will slowly burn when they can't under your skin.

Prayers and/or good vibes for your wife.

Being a survivor is usually better than the alternative, and always more important than money. But be wary, there are sharks in these waters. We got bumped up to a 30% interest rate at one point, and then, when the "debt" on that usurious interest was "forgiven" they reported it 1099-C to the IRS. Silly sharks. I don't care any more.

[SomethingFishy]

14. Don't sign...

For all you know they'll sell your debt to someone else and you'll end up paying 30%...

My wife is also very sick. We have bills piling up as well. Here's the thing with medical bills, as long as you talk to them and make payments they can't touch you. And there is no minimum payment. You can pay a dollar a month if thats all you can afford.

There is no need to "finance" your payments, any hospital or doctors office will arrange a payment plan for you. Pay them directly and stay in touch with them and you should have no problems..

[onethatcares]

15. exactly what I thought

and I'm already stretched out over about 6 doctors and one hospital.

They are getting what I can and I understand they would rather have the money coming in

than letting the sharks eat it up.

thank you very much, all of you.

[SomethingFishy]

16. Yeah, you get used to it...

We have a couple hospitals, 2 doctors offices, and a couple medical supply places we are paying off. The debt never seems to go away but at least they don't harass us...

Good Luck..