Some surgeons and hospitals offer payment plans for their services. Payment plans are most commonly offered when your surgery is routinely paid for by the patient instead of an insurance company. A hysterectomy is almost universally covered by insurance, so most surgeons who specialize in hysterectomy would not offer a payment plan; conversely, plastic surgery is almost never paid for by insurance, so the surgeon would be more likely to know about self-pay options.
In some cases, payment plans are a formal agreement that you will make monthly payments in order to pay for the expenses of your surgery. In other cases, the payment plan is a loan, but the hospital or surgeon is involved in the financial arrangements.
Some hospitals may offer a payment plan for their services, but the plan is a monthly pre-payment plan that is finished by the time surgery occurs.
In the case of an unplanned surgery or emergency surgery when the procedure is performed on an uninsured patient, hospitals are highly motivated to establish a payment plan with willing patients. Monthly payments, even if they are not large, are more attractive to the billing department than no payments and it may keep the debt from appearing on your credit report as a negative account.
