Your choice of words matters when figuring out how to pay for plastic or cosmetic surgery with a bad credit history.
People frequently conflate the two terms even though a critical distinction has enormous consequences on your financing options.
Plastic surgery reconstructs facial and body defects and is often medically necessary, and patients can turn to health insurance and Flexible Spending Accounts to pay for most of the procedure.
Cosmetic surgery reshapes healthy tissue to improve your appearance and is not medically necessary. Patients then have to fund the entire cost themselves and often need to borrow money to pay for the operation.
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Surgery Loans for Bad Credit History
Elective surgery patients with bad credit have three vastly different loan options to finance their operation depending on whether parts of the procedure are medically necessary: diagnosing or treating a disease or injury or its symptoms.
- Cosmetic surgery enhances your appearance and does not meet the standard
- Free plastic surgery comes via health insurance coverage
- Restores bodily function and qualifies as necessary
- Flexible Spending Accounts cover the remaining costs
- Other elective procedures fall into a gray middle ground
Cosmetic Surgery Loans
It’s easy to get a personal loan! (Sponsored Link) Finance cosmetic surgery even when you have bad credit. Subprime online lenders specialize in consumers with adverse information on their consumer reports (delinquency, chargeoff, repossession, etc.) and could help you overcome two obstacles.
- You may have to finance the entire cost because insurance will not cover cosmetic procedures
- Patients with low FICO or Vantage scores face poor approval odds from traditional lenders (banks and credit unions)
Completing a single web-based form gets your credentials in front of a vast network of sub-prime lenders who compete for your business. Be prepared with these elements to boost your approval odds further.
- Driver license number to verify your identity
- Bank routing and account numbers to facilitate payment
- Employer name, address, and phone number
Take this financing route for cosmetic procedures that insurance rarely covers.
| Fat Reduction | Fat Transfer |
| Liposuction | Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) |
| Cool Sculpting | Air Sculpt |
| Sono Bello | Facial Fat Grafting |
| Kybella | Breast Augmentation |
| Lipoma Removal | Hand Rejuvenation |
| Face & Neck | Body Lifts |
| Chin Implants | Mommy Makeover |
| Lip Enhancement | Circumferential Abdominoplasty |
| Juvederm | Brachioplasty |
| Botox | Diastasis Recti |
| Dermatology | Hair Loss |
| Dermabrasion | Hair Transplant |
| Dermal Fillers | Hair Implants |
| Tattoo Removal | Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) |
Middle Surgery Loans
The best way to pay for plastic or cosmetic surgery with bad credit is to have your health insurance cover most of the procedure. Then, you can take out a loan using a Flexible Spending Account for the remaining balance, which is far more affordable than traditional financing.
However, many procedures fall into a gray area, and you can save yourself a bundle by having your surgeon compose a letter of medical necessity following these guidelines.
- Breast reduction (Mammoplasty): Body Mass Index (BMI under 35 with pain in the back or neck, or skin fold irritation or numbness
- Nose job (Rhinoplasty): a deviated septum that leads to medical disabilities such as sleep apnea, chronic nose bleeds, etc.
- Skin Removal (Panniculectomy): chronic rashes caused by weight loss of over 100 pounds after bariatric surgery
- Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty): persistent back pain or incontinence or when combined with another covered procedure
Plastic Surgery Loans
A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) enables the ideal bad credit plastic surgery loan when the procedure is medically necessary. In this case, you must finance only the unreimbursed expenses after health insurance pays.
- Deductible
- Copayments
- Balance billing from out-of-network providers
Under IRS rules, your employer must allow all employees to participate in their FSA, no matter how low their credit score might be. Take these steps to pay for plastic surgery using an FSA loan.
- Pre-certify with the FSA administrator that they will honor claims
- Elect to make a maximum contribution during the annual open enrollment
- Schedule the procedure early in the FSA plan year
- Your employer must reimburse qualifying expenses immediately
- Take up to 52 weeks to repay the obligation using pre-tax money
The potential tax savings are the best part of the FSA loan. Pre-tax payroll deductions reduce your income reported to the IRS, limiting the amount you pay in income and FICA taxes!
Use your FSA loan to pay for these plastic surgery procedures when medically necessary.
| Breast Reconstruction | Congenital Abnormalities |
| Implant removal | Cleft lip and palate |
| Post-mastectomy | Head reshaping |
| Nasal stenosis |
| Hand Restoration | Other Categories |
| Carpal tunnel | Chronic headache relief |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | Skin grafting |
| Dupuytren’s contracture | Droopy eyelid (blepharoplasty) |
Surgery Financing No Credit Check
The ideal elective surgery financing option without a credit check also depends on whether the procedure is medically necessary. Why borrow money at onerous terms when you might not have to?
Cosmetic Procedures
Financing cosmetic surgery without a credit check typically means borrowing money from a subprime lender that does not pull a copy of your consumer report from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion and does not look at your FICO or Vantage score.
Personal loans based on income, not credit score, would be the primary example of how this option works. Lenders put aside their most critical risk assessment tool and ignore adverse histories such as delinquency, charge-offs, repossessions, etc.
Therefore, expect higher borrowing costs when financing without a credit check.
- Origination fees
- Interest charges
- Late payment penalties
- Credit insurance
Plastic Operations
An FSA loan is the ideal plastic surgery financing option without a credit check. Under IRS rules, your employer cannot pull a copy of your consumer report or look at your FICO or Vantage score. They must accept all takers blindly.
The lower costs are the best part of this no-credit-check financing alternative. Not only do you not incur higher origination fees and interest rates, but you also avoid having to fold credit insurance into your monthly payment.
Plus, you save money on taxes, as the pre-tax payroll contributions reduce your income reported to the IRS and your state.
Brazilian Butt Lift
Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) payment plans without a credit check are no different from any cosmetic surgery financing options covered in this article. They reflect three crucial elements for paying for the procedure.
- BBL payment plans are just another name for a personal loan issued by a lender that does not pull a copy of your mainstream consumer report and does not consider a traditional score. You repay the lender in equal monthly installments.
- BBL payment plans for patients with lousy FICO or Vantage scores (below 550) have low approval rates. Therefore, working through a vast online network of subprime lenders in advance is a better strategy than waiting to apply for in-house financing at the surgeon’s office.
- BBL payment plans mean that you may have to finance the total cost. Insurance typically does not cover any fat transfer procedures performed only to improve appearance.
Other Surgery Financing Options
Other elective surgery financing options appeal to patients with bad credit but are not always what they seem. Once again, your choice of words matters, but in a different way.
The industry and consumers often use alternative words to describe the same concept. Don’t be fooled.
Payment Plans
A payment plan for cosmetic or plastic surgery is any form of financing that permits the patient to pay for the procedure in monthly installments. Don’t allow the industry name game to deceive you if you have lousy credit.
- Personal loans enable payment plans that feature fixed monthly installments that retire the obligation over a pre-defined period: 12, 24, 36, or 60 months
- Revolving credit cards establish payment plans that feature flexible monthly installments that retire the obligation based on what you decide to pay at the end of each billing period.
Most plastic surgeons do not do payment plans. Instead, they might offer “in-house financing,” referring you to a third-party company offering a personal loan or a credit card.
In-House Financing
A personal loan for plastic surgery often works better than in-house financing for patients with lousy credit records and low scores – if your employer does not offer a Flexible Spending Account. You have to make intelligent moves when your borrowing credentials are inadequate.
Consider these advantages.
- Tapping into a vast network of subprime companies boosts your approval odds, while an in-house financing program might have one lender
- Having enough money in the bank allows you to pick the surgeon with the best reputation rather than the one that offers in-house financing
- Surgeons touting in-house financing typically refer patients to third-party companies who perform the underwriting and collections work for them
Would you stop by your local bank branch and ask if they perform a nose job or tummy tuck in-house? Of course, that would be silly. So, why ask the same question in reverse only to put yourself at a disadvantage?
No Cosigner
Taking out a loan to finance cosmetic surgery with bad credit and no cosigner raises the bar for approvals. Lenders will require something more without a qualified cosigner to assume responsibility in the event of future delinquency.
Patients with scores below 550 and without a cosigner have two strikes against them and will have to shine in the remaining area: employment history and income.
- Provide employer name, address, and phone for verification
- Keep monthly payments low relative to monthly income
Guaranteed Surgery Financing
Guaranteed financing can have significant implications depending on whether you are attempting to pay for plastic or cosmetic surgery. Once again, your choice of words makes an enormous difference when you have a bad credit history and low scores.
Precertification
Guaranteed financing for plastic surgery is possible with preauthorization from your insurance company – a critical step, given these procedures often fall into a gray area, as noted above.
Your plastic surgeon plays a critical role in establishing the medically necessary reason for the procedure. Precertification provides written assurance for two crucial elements.
- The insurance company will honor the claims
- The FSA administrator will reimburse leftover expenses
Your FSA loan eligibility hinges on some payment by the insurance company. If the insurer deems the procedure necessary, the FSA administrator will follow their lead in most cases.
Down Payments
Beware of any provider touting guaranteed cosmetic surgery financing, and make sure to read the fine print (if there is any) before signing on the dotted line. No legitimate company can promise approval for patients with lousy credit without a catch.
Research the guaranteed offers as we did, and you will find one or more of these flies in the ointment that ought to give you reasons to be skeptical.
- No disclosures whatsoever about their approval assurances
- Promises that apply to qualified applicants only
- An 80% down payment is required upfront
