0 Obtaining Financing

The surgeon's office requires payment up front, and then I can claim reimbursement from my insurance company after the procedure.

But where am I to obtain $31,500?

There is a service called Springstone Patient Financing that provides various terms and interest rates depending on term duration. But best of all, they have a 6 month term of 0% interest. However, they have a cap of $25,000. In any case, $25,000 is interest free leaves me with just $6,500 left to worry about.

I got approved for a maximum of $12,000.

At this point, I am in a mild panic. If the payment doesn't happen, the surgery doesn't happen.

So, I take a easy morning run to my credit union to discuss a loan:


I was approved for a $15,000 VISA card with a flat interest rate of 7.2%, the lowest offer they have due to my A-rating credit score. Making the payment this week would mean getting the statement on september 15th, and having the payment due by mid october. That should be plenty of time to get insurance reimbursement, so I took it.

My credit union was able to print a card within 10 minutes after I accepted, and told them about the urgency of needing it by Tuesday.

In case you are wondering what wonderful credit union I canceled my national bank accounts for, it is the San Francisco Fire Credit Union, in my opinion, the best one around.



$27,000 down, $4,500 to go. I have my Chase Sapphire Preferred for that, and a couple more $8000 limit credit cards. Unfortunately the credit cycle is not ideal, so they are only backups.

It's a huge load off my shoulders, and I'm very excited for the airline miles I'll be getting.