Credit Mix Advice needed. Please help!

[Anonymous]

I will likely have surgery in the upcoming months and my sucky insurance company may not cover the costs.  Given this possibility, I would be forced to cover the $10K in expenses out-of-pocket.

Which method of payment would likely have the most positive long-term effect on my FICOs (I accept that I will likely take a ding in the short term)--

1.) Charge it on a $30K limit CC at 10.99 APR

2.) Take out a medical loan at 12.99 APR

3.) Charge it on LOC (haven't applied so no available APR)

Right now my credit mix consists of--

6 revolving accounts (all CCs) with a UTI of less than 1%

2 installment accounts (car loan and student loan)

To a credit novice like myself my gut instinct is to take the lowest APR available, but I wonder if I'm being too simplistic.

Any and everyone please feel free to weigh in!  Thanks!

{Also, should I have posted this on the General Credit Issues board?  If so, could a mod please move it for me?  Thanks!}

[Anonymous]

First, I'm sorry to hear that 1) you need surgery in the first place and 2) your insurance company isn't worth a fire in the desert.

Moderators, feel free to weigh in here, but I think I would go the CC route.  Interest is interest, and the lower you can go, the better.  Better yet, find out if you can get your rate reduced on the card first.

If you've got vehicle and student loans, I don't see where you'd really need to add another new loan to achieve 'balance'.  The inquiry and new account could lower your score as well.  I don't know what the $10K would make your uti, but if you have a card w/ a $30K limit, I'm assuming your in the higher eschelons of credit ratings, and that it wouldn't affect your util like it would me,   and so would not lower your score by much.

Just my humble opinion.  Best of luck with the surgery, I hope the spirit of the holiday invokes itself and you don't end up having to pay it out-of-pocket.  Happy holidays to you...

[Creditaddict]

My question is Can't you just have the surgery and than make payment arrangements with the hospital, therefore THEY carry the balance and you make INTEREST FREE payments to them!?

I know my mom has done this with her copay stuff.

[Anonymous]

Creditaddict wrote:

My question is Can't you just have the surgery and than make payment arrangements with the hospital, therefore THEY carry the balance and you make INTEREST FREE payments to them!?

I know my mom has done this with her copay stuff.

All others correct me if I am wrong- but I think a lot of what the hospital will carry is if it is self elected surgery, cosmetic surgery vs. need to have surgery that you decided to have other surgery done along with it or add to the surgery that is non covered.

A simplistic example would be- my dental insurance covers amalgam (silver fillings) at 100%. However, if I choose to get resin- (and this may be changing in the upcoming years) unless they are my front teeth that are visible- they are only covered at 80 percent. Plus, if I choose to go under (which I don't need to but I know some people do) they will not pay for sedation anesthesia.

2nd- to the OP- you will need to check if you get a medical loan that it is NOT CATEGORIZED AS A CONSUMER FINANCE LOAN even if for some reason you could find it at a lower percentage (which you prob. can't). Because if it would be cat. as a CFL that would hurt you...

[Anonymous]

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Creditaddict wrote:

My question is Can't you just have the surgery and than make payment arrangements with the hospital, therefore THEY carry the balance and you make INTEREST FREE payments to them!?

I know my mom has done this with her copay stuff.

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PS- I myself am doing this very method currently w/ the local hosp. for what is left over from a CT scan and and endoscopy and colonoscopy and an MRI. These were required.

[haulingthescoreup]

I think it's still worth checking with the hospital in advance. You might need to authorize them to hit your CC as a backup or something.

There is a large Mennonite community near us, and they don't do medical insurance. They self-insure as a community, and they have negotiated deals with their local hospitals to pay for members' hospital care at reasonable rates.

Hospitals have to have a pretty strong business orientation in this day and age. They are screwed over routinely by Blue Cross/ Blue Shield and Medicare, and they're doing their best to make ends meet. It seems worth a try --several tries --to see if they will set up a payment plan.

Sorry to hear about everyone having to dig in their pockets to pay for what their insurance is ducking!

[orl2185]

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lurknomore wrote:

I will likely have surgery in the upcoming months and my sucky insurance company may not cover the costs.  Given this possibility, I would be forced to cover the $10K in expenses out-of-pocket.

Which method of payment would likely have the most positive long-term effect on my FICOs (I accept that I will likely take a ding in the short term)--

1.) Charge it on a $30K limit CC at 10.99 APR

2.) Take out a medical loan at 12.99 APR

3.) Charge it on LOC (haven't applied so no available APR)

Right now my credit mix consists of--

6 revolving accounts (all CCs) with a UTI of less than 1%

2 installment accounts (car loan and student loan)

To a credit novice like myself my gut instinct is to take the lowest APR available, but I wonder if I'm being too simplistic.

Any and everyone please feel free to weigh in!  Thanks!

{Also, should I have posted this on the General Credit Issues board?  If so, could a mod please move it for me?  Thanks!}

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Best of luck with your surgery...

IMO, go with option # 1 no need to get other TL to further lower your score. Medical emergencies are by far the most important reason to use your cc again IMO.

BTW... Nice TL 30K...

[SonorityGenius]

No, definately do not put any medical expenses on your cc!! - you never know of a possible ratejacking (depends on creditor) and or adverse action. Besides, I think over 10% is still hefty considering 10k balance.

All hospitals have a Patient Access Department, go to their department and discuss payment options with them. They always have a payment assistace program and will not charge you full amount right away.

My dad's surgery cost 20k out of pocket since it was required but his ins covered only 50% due to out of network (emergency) and he pays $440 a month,  calculated by hospital staff after reviewing his paystubs and address verification.

So dont charge it on a cc without talking to them,  this way your utl will remain low, your creditors wont take adverse actions (or the possibility of it is diminished anyway).

[fused]

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lurknomore wrote:

I will likely have surgery in the upcoming months and my sucky insurance company may not cover the costs.  Given this possibility, I would be forced to cover the $10K in expenses out-of-pocket.

Which method of payment would likely have the most positive long-term effect on my FICOs (I accept that I will likely take a ding in the short term)--

1.) Charge it on a $30K limit CC at 10.99 APR

2.) Take out a medical loan at 12.99 APR

3.) Charge it on LOC (haven't applied so no available APR)

Right now my credit mix consists of--

6 revolving accounts (all CCs) with a UTI of less than 1%

2 installment accounts (car loan and student loan)

To a credit novice like myself my gut instinct is to take the lowest APR available, but I wonder if I'm being too simplistic.

Any and everyone please feel free to weigh in!  Thanks!

{Also, should I have posted this on the General Credit Issues board?  If so, could a mod please move it for me?  Thanks!}

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What are your FICO scores? What are the CLs on each of your cards? I will move this thread to the general credit issues forum. The title of this thread needs to be edited too.