Although plastic surgery procedures were once thought of as activities for rich people to spend their excess money on, they are now more accessible to the mainstream. The main reason that “regular people” are able to get surgical procedures once thought of as off limits, is due to financing. It is now possible to finance your cosmetic surgery and make payments, just like you would with any expensive product you weren’t able to pay for all at once.
Some surgeons have financing options available through their office, while all the other common financing options are also in play. Some of the procedures that patients consider financing, include face lifts, liposuction, breast augmentation, lifts or reduction, arm, thigh and butt lifts, nose or ear reshaping, facial implants and some injectable treatments.
Most cosmetic surgery procedures aren’t exactly cheap, and unless there is a medical reason for getting it, your insurance isn’t likely to help out at all. Some of the common methods of financing cosmetic surgery include a line of credit, regular credit card, specific medical credit card and a payment plan directly from the surgeon’s office. You can also take out a regular loan from the and pay for the procedure that way.
Of course, financing your plastic surgery has its good points and it has its bad points. Here are some of the pros and cons to help you make a decision before your procedure.
Pros
The most obvious positive about financing your plastic surgery is that you won’t have to wait in order to proceed. Regardless of which specific treatment you want to have, chances are you want it because of a current issue you have with your body or your face that you corrected as soon as possible. When you finance it, waiting is no longer an issue. Here are some of the pros, broken down further by financing method:
• Regular Credit Card – you can usually get low-interest cards and actually build your credit during the pay back process. If the card offers points programs, you can also take advantage of that.
• Medical Card – where these are available, they often come with zero percent interest promotions and they can also give the user a sense of spending control, since they are only used for one thing.
• Line of Credit – a revolving line of credit from your bank usually offers very low interest rates, and sometimes your payments are interest-only which is another attractive feature.
• Surgeon’s Payment Plan – surgeons want your business, so they will often work with patients to create a plan that is customized to your situation. Missed payments usually aren’t reported to a credit agency, either.
• Bank Loan – a loan from the bank will offer decent interest rates, but there are more cons than pros.
Cons
The most obvious con involved with financing your plastic surgery is that you now owe a few thousand or several thousand dollars, with an interest rate attached to it. Some of the others are as follows:
• Regular Credit Card – with your regular card, you might not have enough room on it to cover the surgery you want, plus you’ve tied up a few thousand dollars’ worth of available credit until you’ve paid it off.
• Medical Card – some claim that these kinds of cards are associated with high pressure sales tactics and interest rates that are much higher than advertised.
• Line of Credit – like with your credit card, using a line of credit to finance your plastic surgery will tie up available credit space that you won’t be able to use if emergencies pop up.
• Surgeon’s Payment Plan – It’s important to read the fine print to see how the interest rate changes over time, and even though your credit history isn’t affected, missing payments could result in no more procedures from the doctor in the future.
• Bank Loan – confidentiality may not be high on the agenda when using a bank loan, and many patients aren’t interested in anyone knowing what they are doing when it comes to cosmetic surgery. There is also a chance you won’t be able to get enough to cover the whole procedure.
