In a recent press release, HealthFirst Financial, a national patient financing leader, announced it secured a $70 million line of credit from a lending syndicate that includes Umpqua Bank, Columbia Bank, Opus Bank, and Pacific Continental Bank.
HealthFirst Financial will use the proceeds to finance the growing demand from hospitals and medical groups for affordable patient payment programs.
“Many consumers are overwhelmed when they are faced with a medical bill that their budget can’t afford,” said KaLynn Gates, President and Corporate Counsel of HealthFirst Financial. “We help ease that financial pain by partnering with healthcare providers to offer patients a budget-friendly way to pay medical bills. Our new credit line enhances our ability to work with more providers and patients to cope with rising deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses. We are partnering with many providers now to utilize these funds in their communities.”
Too many people face tough choices between paying for care and affording basic necessities, according to recent tracking polls from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- 29 percent of consumers report problems paying medical bills while 73 percent of that group say they’ve cut back spending on food, clothing or basic household items to pay for treatment.
- 27 percent say they have put off getting treatment and 21 percent say they have not filled a prescription due to costs.
- Half of Americans worry that they won’t be able to pay for needed healthcare services in the future.
HealthFirst Financial’s affordable financing helps people get the care they need without breaking the family budget. So far, HealthFirst has helped hundreds of thousands of patients, with over $300 million dollars in patient bills, and along the way have made the communities it serves healthier by making care more financially accessible. The payment program consists of low or no interest credit lines with monthly payments as low as $25 and term lengths up to 60 months. There is no credit check, so this program does not impact patients’ credit scores.