What is a medical loan?

A medical loan is a special type of personal loan that is only used to pay for health care.

Medical loans

, which are usually available through traditional banks and online lenders, are usually unsecured loans, meaning that they are not tied to any collateral. A medical loan is essentially a personal loan that is requested for the specific purpose of funding medical treatment. Medical loans can cover a variety of medical costs, such as elective surgeries, IVF treatments, and emergency procedures.

If you're facing large medical bills, medical loans can help you pay them over time. Medical loans are a type of personal loan that can be used to pay for anything from an emergency procedure to planned elective surgery or to refinance existing healthcare debt. As soon as you receive your bill, it's good practice to call the billing department to try to negotiate your medical bill. If your credit score isn't good, especially if you've had difficulty paying your medical bills in the past, you can also apply for a secured medical loan.

Each lender has their own requirements when it comes to qualifying for a personal loan to cover medical debt. In addition, unpaid medical debt can also have a negative effect on your credit score, which can affect your ability to qualify for a mortgage. Medical loans, which are unsecured personal loans, can help you cover those bills, whether unexpected or not. By using any of these methods to consolidate medical bills, the issuer of the new loan or credit card pays off existing debts, which are then combined and owed to the new lender, ideally with a lower APR.

However, unsecured personal loans for medical bills are usually best suited for those with good credit ratings and can get a good interest rate. For some, medical loans aren't the right option, either because of lack of time or because of credit requirements. Once you're pre-qualified for medical loans, you'll want to compare details such as loan terms, APR rates, and loan size. Some doctor offices partner with medical credit card companies, such as CareCredit, that offer deferred interest for a specified period of time.

While many Americans choose to postpone medical treatment because of the cost, medical loans exist for a reason and are here to help you pay for the care you need. Your hospital's billing department may be willing to negotiate an interest-free payment plan to pay off your medical debt. In addition, they can also be used to consolidate medical debts, pay out-of-network health care expenses, or to cover deductibles and copayments. A number of lenders even offer medical credit cards, which are an immediate solution for paying medical costs.

You can get a medical loan like any other type of personal loan, through a bank, credit union, or online lender.