6 Benefits of Promotional Financing for Health and Wellness Care

Even if you’ve got your budget under control, when an unexpected and costly health and wellness expense gets thrown into the mix, it can force you to make hard financial choices and sometimes create stress. Coming up with the funds to make a full payment on the spot may not be feasible. Promotional financing offers a way to pay the bill over time, and if you pay off the promotional balance before the end of the promotional period, you can avoid paying even a penny of interest.

Many health and wellness providers — including plastic surgeons, dentists and veterinarians — offer financing. This may include a promotional period during which you can make monthly payments to pay for your purchase without interest charges.

Having the ability to spread out payments for a health and wellness bill over a longer period of time can make it easier to move forward with care. By making the suggested monthly payments each month within the time frame of the offer, you can avoid the additional cost of interest.

If you’ve been putting off an upcoming procedure or treatment of some kind, learn about some of the benefits of promotional financing and how this option could help you pay for the care you want or need.

1. Pay for Care Without Delay

It’s important to stay on top of your health and wellness and that of your pets, but oftentimes, people delay care because of financial reasons. In the 2023 CareCredit Healthcare Journey Research study, 53% report delaying or pushing off medical treatments due to expenses or out-of-pocket costs.¹

A KFF survey found that 28% of adults with insurance delayed or went without dental care in the last 12 months because of cost.² The same phenomenon has been reported among pet parents who are limiting vet visits to try to save money as well.³

Timely health interventions for both people and pets can often lead to better outcomes. In some cases, delayed care could even lead to more serious health consequences. That’s why having to put off high-priority procedures because of money can be frustrating.

Promotional financing can help remove one of the key barriers — cost — from the equation. If approved, it can help people feel more confident about making the best care decisions without the stress of paying out-of-pocket costs up front.

2. Expanding Your Care Choices

Having choices is important when it comes to your wellness or your pet’s health. Being able to seek out specialized expertise and advanced care options with a way to pay for costs can be empowering.

For many, however, advanced care from top-rated providers can sometimes be more expensive or financially out of reach. Promotional financing can open the door to more treatment options since that larger expense can be spread out over the course of several months. Choosing the right provider for your needs can help improve your patient satisfaction and perhaps your overall health.

3. A Potential Boost for Your Credit Health

While you might think of promotional financing as a tool for paying for health and wellness care, it may also have a secondary benefit: helping improve your credit health if you pay off your promotional balance by the promotional period end date. This is especially true if you are starting out on or hoping to improve your credit journey.

Here’s how it works: Anytime that you have debt obligations, such as a credit card or loan product, your payment activity is reported to the credit bureaus, and that information is used as part of your credit score calculation. In fact, the biggest factor impacting your score is consistent on-time payments over a period of time.⁴

Therefore, anytime you finance a purchase or use credit, make a plan to pay it off responsibly, such as setting up automated payments.⁵ Over time, your credit score should go up, which can be great for your overall financial well-being. For example, a good credit score can help you access more financial products as well as lower interest rates when you borrow.⁶

4. Keeping Costs in Check

Paying over time can help reduce the impact on your budget. For example, let’s say you have a $900 bill. Instead of draining your savings account, you might be offered the option to pay it over six months. That would mean you’d have to come up with $150 per month to pay it off before the promotional period ends. You may be able to make small changes to your expenses to free up that money, or if you have the opportunity, you could pick up a side gig or work a bit of overtime.

The key is to crunch the numbers when you get a promotional financing offer to make sure you can handle the monthly payments required. If you see a headline like "No Interest if paid in full in 6 months," interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the promotional purchase is not paid in full within the promotional period.⁷

Follow the strategy used above: Just take the full promotional purchase amount and divide it by the number of months in the promotional period to figure out the monthly payment amount needed to get down to $0. Aim to pay it off before the promo expires.

5. Fostering Trust With Clear Financial Conversations

If you’ve ever been surprised by a medical bill after the fact, you know that it’s not a good feeling. It might have even affected your relationship with that provider. However, when your doctors, dentists or vets offer price transparency, it can give you confidence and build trust.

Having up-front cost discussions and explaining different payment solutions also demonstrates that a provider cares about making their services as accessible as possible.

6. Supporting Your Well-Being Journey

Stressing over big health expenses is a reality for many people. For example, pet parents shared in Synchrony’s Pet Lifetime of Care Study that even a $250 vet bill is enough to trigger anxiety.⁸

For services that are more elective in nature, you might be torn between financial strain (and guilt) versus the positive impact that the procedure could have on your quality of life. That’s a tough situation to be in.

Promotional financing could ease your financial worries and provide a way to move forward with the care you want or need. Instead of stressing over the money aspects, with more time to deal with the finances, you can reframe your decision as making an investment in your health.

Easy and Flexible Financing

Promotional financing is usually a simple and straightforward application process that you can complete before or at the time of your appointment. With modern solutions like CareCredit, a health and wellness credit card, you can enjoy promotional financing on qualifying health and wellness expenses at locations in the CareCredit network.*

Be sure to discuss the terms of the promotional offer, especially when the end date is, with your provider. Then, if you make the suggested monthly payment, you can pay for your purchase in full before the promo period end date. It's a win-win.

Managing Health and Wellness Costs With the CareCredit Credit Card

If you are looking for an option to help manage your health and wellness costs, consider financing with the CareCredit credit card. Get the care you want or need with easy, flexible financing options that allow you to pay for out-of-pocket expenses over time.* Use our Acceptance Locator to find a provider near you that accepts CareCredit. Continue your wellness journey by downloading the CareCredit Mobile App to manage your account, find a provider on the go and easily access the Well U blog for more great articles, podcasts and videos.

Your CareCredit credit card can be used in so many ways within the CareCredit network including vision, dentistry, cosmetic, pet care, hearing, health systems, dermatology, pharmacy purchases and spa treatments. How will you invest in your health and wellness next?

Author Bio

Dawn Papandrea is a journalist with more than two decades of experience covering personal finance and consumer issues. She has written for leading financial publications and organizations, including U.S. News & World Report, Investopedia, Bankrate and others.