Hey guys, my name is Mavi . And for the last 14 years, I've worked in the plastic surgery industry under top board certified plastic surgeon. In that time, I have gained extensive knowledge about surgical procedures pre and post-op care, as well as non-invasive or minimally invasive treatments. My passion to educate and help women feel empowered in their surgical decisions, led to what we now know as the big buts , no lights podcast. Join in on the fun.
As I chat with plastic surgery, experts, friends, and real life patients about all things. Plastic surgery should be fun. Hey guys. Okay. You should be pumped. Now you went to your consults, you got your quote, you understand your quote, and now how are you going to pay for this great question? So
Remember, last episode I told y'all that besides having one passionate girl talking to y'all, I had three passionate girls with Annalisa and melody joining me again today, and they are perfect people to talk about this that we're going to talk about today. Financing kind of figuring out how to pay for your surgery. Now that you've decided this is what you're going to do and melody, it's your moment to shine. Yes , I'm so excited.
So I'm very passionate about this because I know for myself had financing, not been a factor, I would not be able to get everything that I wanted to get. And we were just talking about that last episode. Yes , yes. And so I wanted to make sure that I was setting realistic expectations for myself, and I'm not a girl who likes to compromise. So having financing through care credit, who happens to be my employer. So shameless plug really helped me.
And I've been working with care credit as a provider since 2004. So I actually started off at quick weight loss center. That was my first real job. And I was able to help, help people to get six months interest free financing for weight loss. And it was awesome. And as time has gone on the program has improved so much. So whether it's dental vet, plastic surgery, eyes , you have options. And you know, care court is not the only guy on the block.
Yes, they are the best, the best reputation, better reviews from consumers and cardholders and even Amazon or Starbucks, but they also are the bank. So you have guaranteed money there and great customer service with over a quarter of a million providers across customer service. You've been an amazing contact.
You are very easy to work with,
But at the same time, you have always been a great person to just talk to, I can call you directly. You text me like, this is what you need to do. Tell the patient this, that, or the other. So I just got to give you some props for that. Thank you. You're amazing. Thank you. I appreciate your melody. You know, I meant when I met you, we were in an office. Yeah. I was like , yeah. She's
And I was like, no, she's my friend,
Because I get to work with outstanding, phenomenal professionals. Like the both of you. And we are so passionate about it to be able to put our minds together. And , um , I know that first of all, good things are gonna come from deceiving, helping women left and right. Yes. But being able to make this possible for more women or more people across the board. Right. Because , you know, part of my goal is to kind of break down this stigma.
And I feel like a lot of that female on female negativity is kind of from maybe jealousy or envy or not enough understanding, or, you know, maybe if plastic surgery was accessible to some of the women who are very upset about other women having surgery. Yes. They'd be more open about it. Yeah , sure . Financing is a great way to be able to open the door for everyone because you have two options. You have the people who want to save money long-term yes . And they want no interest.
Like I want free money now. Thank you. It's not free. But you know, it is for the patient. It is right. Or you have those who are going to say, you know, I really want to be able to make it on a feast or famine budget. So let it work into my monthly budget. And I talked to Annalisa about this. I do not like to think about it from a monthly payment standpoint. I like to break it down by day. Yeah. Right. So I'm addicted to Starbucks. We talked about this last episode.
I pull up, they know what I want. Right. I can get rid of my Starbucks for a day and get what I want with my body. It's easier for me to budget. And so that's one way that financing could definitely help. Absolutely. So let's mention some of the other, you know sure , sure. So we're getting Alphaeon is actually another option CareCredit and Alphaeon both now allow you to do a prequalification . So what that means is you can go in and you can get pre-approved right.
The difference is, is that care credit is the bank. So if they say yes, legally, it is a yes. You can bank on that money or more. Yeah. So your treatment coordinator can, let's say you got approved for 5,000, but you need 10, your treatment coordinator with a couple clicks can go ahead and ask for that for your struggle. Yes. Oh, the pre-approval or yeah, I love that. You taught me that. Well now you're actually playing active last week. Your patients can do it on their own.
Nice. Yes. Well, it's good for the coordinators too, because we kind of, especially with COVID so everything is pre COVID post COVID
[inaudible]
pretty much
So pre COVID. It wasn't a big deal, but now it's like, okay, well now we want to make sure the patients are financed . They, you know, have that, you know, in their wallet ahead of time. Because if not, it's wasting their time. It's wasting the doctor's time, you know, your time. Yeah, exactly. So we want to make sure to send them the quote and if we can offer them that information, and two , you said, right, it doesn't knock on their credit. Right.
So you , and right now you can run it and it doesn't alter anything. Correct. And so it allows you to make that, to make the best decision it's going to fit your financial profile . Yeah . And one thing that I love is that you're not pigeonholed . Yes. That's your , because you can use it for different practices and it's repeat you. So once I pay it off, I can use it again. And for, you know, for plastic surgery, most of that do do injectables, right? So plastic surgeons love it. Yeah . As
You're paying it off , you're gonna come back to do
Your Botox and your filler and everything .
And you know , patient will be like, Hey, I only have a thousand
Dollars available on my care credit. Let's make it work. We actually about aftercare. Right. You can utilize care credit at Walgreens or Rite aid for your prescriptions. Sure . Yes, yes, yes, yes.
You're welcome. You guys. Even those
Hospital fees. If the hospital comes through an extra bill, as long as they accept care credit, you can pay with care credit. Yeah. Perfect. No matter what provider you go to, you are guaranteed to have at least six months deferred interest. Yeah . So some providers will offer you six months, 12 months, 18 or 24 months.
Other providers will also offer you extended payment plans from 24 months to 60 months with a lowered APR fixed interest and with care credit, no matter what your credit score is, you're going to have the same interest rate where other finance companies, depending on what your credit score is that says what your loan APR is going to be. And some of those loans really are a predatory loans. Oh yeah. Yeah. I've seen some it's crazy.
And I think I've harped on this on another episode, but I had a mommy makeover member and she took the kids to Disney. She racked up the points on a credit card. Yeah. But she got the points, but it's like, it's one of those things where you plan on this ahead of time and you get those ducks in a row and you figure out what's going to fit your lifestyle. Yes. You know, but care credit is a great, amazing option. And they've been around for so long how long they had been around the longest.
Like they started off just doing dental implants. Oh my gosh. Wow. So to think about everything that we're doing right now, a vet is huge, you know, but actually during the pandemic, we've never seen so many people concentrate on their credit. Right. They don't have anything
Else to do. Right .
As synchrony kind of numbers to go down. Yeah . But people were paying their bills. Well, think about it. They're not going to restaurants right there . They're not going out. Right. They're trying to pay off loans. They're not spending money on the things that they typically would be spending on, but you know what they are doing as well buying homes. So yeah . That's where pre-call is so important because my husband's a realtor.
So if you need a realtor, [inaudible] , You know, we have lots of, we travel . We have, we cross shop. Right. So she might come in for a house, but she ends up, you know, Hey Mel, I'm interested in mommy makeover. Right . So, but you can not run your credit. You can not run her credit because she's trying to buy a house. Right ? Yeah . Hit it. She's building the house. It'd be six months of time to get those two points back. Like we can, we can do this. Right.
The six months is building the house. We'll pay off the loan. And she gets the body that she wants and the house that she wants. Oh my gosh. That's like, right. Come on. We need like a , a little bit. Oh
Yeah . Yeah. And like , and we're done. So it's ,
You can really rebuild her life from the inside out. And so with the prequel, anytime you have that, you pretty much have the option to go in and do that with confidence. So before I even come in to see you on Elisa , I can make website . I can, I can search you what plans you offer. And I know, oh, I'm approved. Yeah. You know, another thing I kind of want to point out is if your plastic surgeon, you find on the care credit website, there they are board certified plastic surgeons.
Yes. They have to be well, they don't have to be. However, you will notice that the upper echelon doctors are with care credit. If a doctor at this point does not accept care credit. I want a dare you to ask why. Oh, because customer service is great . I agree. You have to take care of your patient before and after the sale . Yes . It's literally like the visa yes . Of cosmetic surgery. Yes. It's synonymous with cosmetic surgery. Yeah . Are you sure I'm positive? Yeah .
A previous relationship that we were involved in one day when I first met them, they were, that was not the case for them. Now it is. So now I'm helping them and doctors please reach out to your local care credit rep because there may be a cheaper rate for you, but you don't even know about reach out to that rep. They are trained to teach you how to grow your business, just using financing. And we're not trying to replace cash. It's going to be 20%.
Our goal is 20% of the business and the practice. We don't charge the patient anymore. Right. So. Right . Exactly. We don't where the practice I'm at ACS right now. So I feel like what's the downside, right? There's there isn't there is . So the question is why, why don't you offer it? Right. And so you're going to find either they're extremely price conscious , sensitive, right. And or that they were not allowed to get care credit for some reason or they were booted out. Yeah . That's true.
And those are, those should be some red flags. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. We do talk right then green flags. Okay. We're going to say it red flag for that one red
Flag for that one. Except
If I would just ask. Yeah. Yes. Um , okay. The other financing companies that are out there, green sky and United medical credit. Sure. I don't have too much experience with either of them. I know they're out there. Do you know why? No, I don't know. They generally [inaudible]
Definitely . Um ,
What is it again? Sorry. What are the two guy ? Yeah , the medical credit as well as prosper, prosper. I know, but that they tend to go for subprime credit. So those are the loans that care credit probably would not give someone, but it's also, the loans are going to be high interest. Those are going to be sparing. I have had situations where I've applied. I don't think I've ever gotten anybody approved and fully moved on from surgery.
However, there are some practices that thrive with green sky, but care credit is just, it is honestly more consistent. And that's what we want. We want consistency. We don't want to have the honeymoon period where you first sign up and that practices getting yeses left and right. And then six months later, they don't, can't get an approval to save their life. I want it to be consistent. So on Elisa sees me
Not like girl you're killing my business girl. Yes,
Yes. Honestly, part of the, we are the bank. We are a federal bank. And another thing too, that I've found very helpful is patients can log in and make payments. Yes. Online without even having to call the office. I did love that. Oh yes. On one link. But at the same time, it's great because it's less work for the office. Especially if it's a big practice, it's less work for the patient, which it's convenient because they can do it as the money comes in.
Because some patients they call me and they're like, I need to do X amount every single week because it's, if it's out of my bank account, I'm good.
Because if it's in there, then I'm spinning , I'm
Sending it. Yeah . So they automatically know every Friday night they're lugging and, and they're, you know, putting the money towards their future surgery, you know? So out of sight, out of mind, we talked about that,
Right ? Yeah. First I was like , oh God . Like ,
Because you guys are so busy. Yeah. And also, but real . Yeah . She might not be using her card. True. Hey, we don't judge. We don't judge. As , as long as you're an authorized user or the card holder goes online and pays for you. I care how you do it. Right. Yeah. I mean it's because with care credit because the financial institution, if they back it up, so it is what it is. Right. I mean, you don't, there's no cut cutting corners. The practice is safe. The patient is safe.
As long as it goes through and you provide all the information that is required to make that payment. You're fine. That's it. Pick your promotion and keep moving. There you go. Okay. What if our patient doesn't have good credit? What if she has bad credit? Well, luckily we are no longer using by coast . Yes, really? So we have a more broad picture. So he has a right here, right?
Live bill, like your
Rent, your credit bill. Those are all factors now really in a more holistic view of who this person is. Right. And if a lot of people look in their wallet, they already have a synchrony card for rooms to go or see hymns . Right. So we know, okay. She may not have a lot of credit, but she pays at rooms to go bill every month. Every single month. Yeah. We'll defer 1100 to start off. Yeah . And let her go from there.
See, and that goes back to you can, this makes me so excited because it makes your job well, not easier. It remove roadblocks . Yes, exactly. And that's one of the major roadblocks with, you know, doing a surgery is obviously financing. So if we can put that out of the way, then that's one less hurdle that you have to go over. But now knowing this, this is great for, but another thing that you can do honestly, is get a co-signer. Yeah. You can get a coach . There's somebody in your life.
And unfortunately you can not do the pre-call. So it has to be a full application and a hard hit on your credit, but you can get that co-signer and it's, win-win, you're helping them . They can help you build your credit. You get the procedure that you want and need. That's great. Yeah . Perfect. Thank you . See, I knew this was your moment to shine. And when you go in ask your, your treatment coordinator to give you a payment option form.
Okay. Because it gives you all of the options on one page, instead of you having to go through and look at the brochure and figure out what your payment's going to be. They can give you the exact payment and on there will be a customized QR code that they can use. You can apply right there, pay them right there and then show up for your pre-op and get your blood work and be ready and done. Perfect.
So, and that's a great thing too, because I'm glad you said that, because that goes back to what we talked about earlier with pre-qualifying . Yes. Before you even walk into the office, do it, do it. It's not going to Dean your credit. You have nothing to lose. Yeah, exactly. Nothing to it . You can walk in more competent at your apartment knowing , okay. You're
Like, this is my budget, this much for my budget. Right.
And then you don't have to think about that and you can focus on the actual procedure and the surgeon and the consultation. Because if you think about it, we literally going in and you were giving what you feel is the worst part of you to somebody else. Right. You're so vulnerable and you have so much anxiety. The last thing you need to worry about is the money, but the money be the last thing , make sure that you're concentrating on everything else. Yeah . I agree.
Cause we don't have to do it, but we're still gonna do it. I still want it .
Oh, I love that. [inaudible] okay. So let's talk
About for a patient. Okay . For example, my quote is $20,000 and I got approved for 10,000 with care credit. Okay. What do I do for the rest? I'm going to give you two options. One would be, are you married? Let's have your husband apply as well. And let's utilize his, utilize his credit as well. Okay . The second option would be, you can use any credit card, any cash or whatever your doctor accepts. So most offices or do use two different finance companies.
If you need to, there's no shame in that. It says it doesn't matter. You can use multiple forms of payment. That's what I was going to the most amount of like, what would you say is the most modern form forms of payment that you've received for one surgery? I have seen for Botox,
For
Botox. It was blow some people's weight .
I mean, mommy on Elisa [inaudible]
Okay. But for a Botox and filler appointment, you know, my ladies like to get creative with their financing just because their husband doesn't want to know and doesn't need to know, you know, how much they spend at the plastic surgeon every three months or the spa or the spa or anywhere. So they will come in with, you know, 300 in cash, a hundred dollars in a check.
So I had there a little bit on
CareCredit , a little bit on a credit card and finally just put $50 on my, exactly . Right . So I had an older lady come in very wise and she said, I'm going to teach you something. What store does your husband not blink at? If you shop there. I said, target HEB. He knows I'm going to target. I'm going to weekly. She said, you go to target and you buy visa gift cards.
[inaudible]
I had a patient who ,
Every time she would go to the store, she would ask for cash back a hundred dollars in cash back. And she kept it in her wallet. And so then
When she would come in to see me, she was paying
Hundreds. We have to be creative,
Not wrong. They like
It results either. You're buying apples or you're buying Bush from target . Sorry. I'm like my mind's blown right now.
I've heard it all. You know, I'm sure we all have, but um , financing honestly is going to be the best way for you to , to get the full, comprehensive package and not cut corners, cut corners, and feel good about it. Like you, you don't feel that pressure like, oh my gosh, I'm putting myself under the table for doing this.
And I always suggest if you were going to do something for yourself, recommend that the person in your life who's going to have the biggest objection to it , do something for themselves. Amen. Right. So ladies, if you want to get a mommy makeover, do it , do it . Why don't you go on that golf trip that you and your friends have been talking about?
You know , didn't you want to do like some
Week on Tuesday,
Right ? Having my surgery. Yes . No . I need you to bring me home and take care of me . I'll have a recovery house. Do that for me. But with care
Or even if he wants to get like basic or something. Yeah . Let them get the LASIK and you use the rest for your Botox and fillers. There you go. Perfect. Yeah. It's
A, win-win the , win-win give you a little,
Even the kids braces done . So everybody gets to win. The whole family gets to use the card. I love it. Okay. So to finish this off, I want you guys to give me, I'm going to go in order. Okay. And melody first and then we'll do on Elisa and then I'll give mine. Okay. I want you to give our listeners as if they were here in front of you. Okay. One piece of advice, as far as financing, try it. The worst that could happen is a , not now. It's not a no, it's not a definitive.
No , it's just a , not now because they could always work on their credit. Absolutely. Going to build their credit. Yes, yes. And , and having that card and paying that off does great to your credit score and , and having a synchrony card in your wallet helps to expand your horizons for credit overall. And for the first time I applied, I did not get approved. I was in the middle of divorce. I did not get approved, worked on my credit, apply it again. And got it. I did not to be a mountain.
I wanted worked on it, charged my whole face, paid it off aspirin increase. And I received it. So it takes, it takes time. It's yes. A relationship. Yes . Yes. It's American. Anything else? Come on. I'm going to have the same answer because I feel the same way. Like after a divorce and no credit is no credit. I had knock on wood , no debt, no credit cards, no light bill . No, no anything. Which was good in hindsight. But at the same time, I didn't, you had no credit bill. Exactly.
So those patients that are out there, that they are responsible and they've paid off everything and they pay everything cash, you know, you got to build it up somehow and , and not put yourself in a bind. Right . Because yeah, exactly.
And also too, if you're going to spend 20 or $30,000 on a surgery and you're a single mom, you have one income coming in, this is a great avenue for you to use to one, build your credit, which is probably the most important, but also too , you don't have to spend all of your cash at one time so you can space it out. So it's a win-win I do have one more thing. Sorry, go ahead.
Do not be afraid of the fixed interest plans just because you see that, do not be afraid of that because there there's no penalty for early payoff. So let's say uncle Joe gives us another stimulus.
[inaudible]
you know,
If you do, if you do 60 months, that's five income tax returns. That's five birthdays, five anniversaries, five Christmases that you have right. Way at all. Yeah. And you're enjoying the results throughout that whole time. Yeah . Yeah. And you feel better. You feel better. My tip is, do not put yourself in a financial bind to have an elective procedure like plastic surgery do not just don't do it. You, you will be so stressed during your recovery.
If you, you know, if you spent more than what you should have been spending and you just put yourself in a very tight spot, don't do it. Just save, save your money, you know, try financing, try if you have a credit card or if you need to wait his name, wait until you're wait until you can do it. And it's like, okay, you'll feel it. Everything's aligning kind of like, okay, I'm getting green lights along the way.
You know, this might be the , this is the right time for me or whatever the case may be. But that would be my one tip. Do not put yourself in a financial strain for plastic surgery. And that goes to what we've talked about in previous episodes about the stress level. And that's a stress, that's a stress, stress causes a lot. Money causes a lot of stress for people. Yeah . So this is, you know , my last tip, but if you're gonna do it,
Do it, you're gonna do it. Let's
Try it . Some financing, let's see if care credit works, let's make it work.
That's where you build your relationship with your coordinator. Talk to her, Hey, you know what? I only got 5,000 for my $10,000 quote. This is my situation. This is my situation. And then she can tell you, Hey, you know what, start making payments. Right . Make your payment to the office instead of
Yeah . [inaudible] and payments to the
Office because the office can take your payment and it just stays as a credit on your account. And you're just , and it always will go towards like way away. Exactly . So don't put yourself in a bind and try financing. And if you , and if you don't get approved, try again later, let's work on your credit, get the sugar, daddy, get an uncle, get somebody and just ask. I mean, that's a thing.
I think a lot of patients are scared of asking because they're either, you know, apprehensive or scared about basically asking the question. I need help with financing and that's okay. We all are , have been in that position at some point or another. It's just, we're there. As you know , I'm speaking as a coordinator at this point, but even as a patient, like ask the question and ask the coordinator because that's, you're the conduit between the doctor and the patient. Like that's your job.
Yeah . That's the whole point is to help them make this process easier. That's right . So melody, do you want to recap our episodes ? So we talked about financing and how you are going to pay for your surgery. We want to set realistic expectations. Definitely care. Credit is a great option. If you want to utilize interest free or fitted payment plans that will help you in a feast or famine budget. We talked about pre-qualification using care credit.
Alphaeon you have six months to 24 months deferred interest or up to 60 months with interest. And it's on Elisa quoted the
Visa. [inaudible]
And it's a red flag, but the practice does not offer it. Ask why other options that work with subprime credit. So if your credit is, if you're building your credit or repairing your credit green sky prosper and United medical credit and asked for the financing. Yeah. Don't be afraid to ask just don't put yourself in a financial bind for plastic surgery. Yeah. Perfect. [inaudible]
So much fun. I told y'all . This is a meeting of the minds right here. Y'all
Don't even know what we have coming for you next week.
I would like to end this episode with a huge thank you to all of our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure to subscribe to big buts , no live podcast and follow us on Instagram at big buts , no lies podcast . If you have a topic you want me to cover, please send it to the DM. If you know anyone on their plastic surgery journey, be sure to recommend them to show you can also visit us on our website. Big buts , no lies.com. You'll see the online
Surgical recovery store. We're adding
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