The Visa Healthcare Spending Card – offered by fintech company Lane Health and issued by Lead Bank – can be useful for those who need to finance medical expenses not covered by insurance. The $0 annual fee card allows cardholders to link their Health Savings Account (HSA) to pay medical expenses over time and does not charge interest on hospital and healthcare-related expenses.

However, holders may potentially have to pay high fees if they miss repayment deadlines. Additionally, the card can only be used for healthcare-related expenses and cannot earn rewards. If you don’t have a pending medical bill to pay, or if you already have a significant amount of money in your HSA, then you’re better off having a rewards credit card instead.

Here’s what you need to know about the Lane Visa card for health expenses.

The card request will not trigger pull hard on your credit or negatively impact your credit scores, as applying for a traditional credit card typically does. That’s because Lane Health and its issuing partner use factors like debt and income, rather than FICO scores, to determine whether an applicant will get the health card.

The company also uses non-traditional underwriting to determine the credit limit you receive. Credit limits for cardholders range from $500 to $10,000: the higher your income, the higher your line of credit will be.

Along the same lines, Lane says he doesn’t report to anyone. credit bureaus. This means that your health card account and payment history will not be recorded on your credit report. Your credit report is used to calculate your credit scores, which can affect your ability to get another loan product later.

The Lane Healthcare Sending card offers 0% financing when you use it for eligible hospital and healthcare-related expenses and repay what you owe within a certain amount of time. Unlike the others medical credit cards which loads what we call deferred interestpurchases made with the Lane Healthcare card will not earn interest retroactively.

There are, however, reservations, starting with the fact that not all expenses will be treated the same way in terms of financing. More specifically, the map makes a clear distinction between eligible hospital bills (those supported by the hospital services of general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals and specialized hospitals) as opposed to others eligible health expenses (but not hospital expenses)and your financing offer may vary depending on which of these two main categories you pay for.

Here’s more information on how 0% financing works:

• One-, four- and 12-month repayment plans are possible, depending on the type of expense.

• Eligible hospital bills repaid within 12 months receive 0% financing. When you use your card to pay bills for these services, you will not be charged any interest during repayment.

• 0% financing also applies to dental bills reimbursed over 12 months; however, you must be a Delta Dental member to qualify. If you use your Lane Healthcare card for dental expenses and you are not a member of Delta Dental Insurance Company, your purchase is not eligible for 0% financing for 12 months.

• Any other Qualified healthcare expenses are eligible for 0% financing when reimbursed under one- or four-month repayment plans. Qualified health care expenses include a wide range of services and products such as dental and vision procedures; drugs; pharmaceutical products; medical equipment and supplies such as orthopedic items and prosthetics; urgent care centers; and more.

• Note that a minimum amount of $3 is due each month, regardless of the term of your loan.

The card’s 0% interest offer can help you pay off major medical expenses faster and without having to go into debt later. But cardholders may still have to pay non-interest fees that can make it costly to maintain a balance with the card.

This is because any healthcare-related (non-hospital) purchases made with the card (like those highlighted above) that are not repaid within four months will incur a 5% loan origination fee and finance charges. periodicals. For example, if you use your card to pay for a medication prescription or urgent care visit and don’t pay it off within four months, you’ll have to pay an additional 5% of the original purchase cost. was, in addition to the monthly fees.

Recurring finance charges vary depending on how much you owe. Generally, they total between 8% and 13% of the initial loan amount over 12 months.

(Keep in mind that this fee only applies to non-hospital health care expenses. Your purchase type will be determined by the associated merchant category code or Multi-account center).

Cardholders with an HSA can link their account to the Lane credit card.

An HSA allows you to pay for health-related expenses with tax-free dollars, and by linking your account to the credit card, you can simultaneously fund these health-related expenses over time if you need to, by using any of the means mentioned above. interest payment plans.

Note that you don’t need an HSA to get the card.

The health spending card can be a useful tool for financing large medical expenses not covered by insurance. But the card is generally limiting when it comes to everyday use.

For starters, you can only use the card for healthcare-related expenses, so it’s not useful for general expenses. And you won’t earn any rewards on these medical expenses. Other medical cards, such as CareCredit Rewards Mastercardreward holders for healthcare-related purchases and everyday spending.

Additionally, if you already have a significant amount of money in your HSA account and don’t need to fund a medical procedure, the card might not make sense for you. Rather than getting the card, you can simply pay your entire medical bill directly from your HSA.

Or, better yet, you can use a rewards-earning card to pay your medical bill and then pay off your balance in full with your HSA funds. This means you’ll benefit from both pre-tax dollars and credit card rewards. And because you pay off your balance in full, you won’t have to pay interest.