10 Best Medical Loans for Every Medical Emergency

Disclosure: Stilt is a lending company. Nonetheless, we are committed to recommending the best loan products to our readers when their needs are outside Stilt’s loan offerings.

Medical bills can get very expensive very quickly. The burden gets all the heavier when it is an emergency. And unfortunately, even though we pay so much for medical insurance in the U.S, our insurance often doesn’t cover all the expenses.

It’s no wonder 43 million Americans were overdue on their medical debt in 2014.

These medical expenses don’t have to break the bank, though. If you need a little help, you might consider taking out a medical loan.

Below, we explain what a medical loan is, where you can get one, and take a look at the 10 best medical loans.

What is a Medical Loan?

A medical loan is a loan you take out to help you cover your medical expenses. These loans can either be used to help you cover an emergency situation or a planned medical procedure (such as a surgery) or to consolidate existing medical debt. In most cases, medical loans usually are personal loans.

Where to Get Medical Loans?

As explained above, the best medical loans most often come in the form of personal loans. You can apply for a personal loan at a traditional bank, a credit union or at an online lender. As personal loans are a popular form of credit, it will be worth it to do proper research on the different options out there.

While researching, keep in mind that some lenders have restrictions on what a loan can be used to cover. Before you apply for a personal loan to cover your medical expenses, be sure to check and understand your lender’s specific restrictions.

You can also explore taking out a personal line of credit. This type of credit works like a credit card. You have a balance available to you and you use it as you needed. Of course, you will need to make monthly repayments, but that, in turn, will replenish your credit line for further use.

Finally, you can also inquire from your medical practitioner or the hospital where you are having the procedure done as to whether they offer in-house financing. This option will likely be more expensive so make sure you compare all of your options before making a decision.

To help with the decision-making process, we list the 10 best medical loans below.

10 Best Medical Loans

Below are some of the best medical loan options available. Make sure you do a proper comparison between the different lenders and different options to make sure you get the best medical loan for your situation.

Avant

Avant is a great option if you have a bad credit history, as they focus on borrowers with low credit scores. One of Avant’s perks is their late-payment policy. If you miss a payment by more than 10 days, you will pay a $25 late fee. But, if you follow that payment up with three consecutive payments made on time, this late fee will be refunded to you. Unfortunately, if you are an immigrant and/or you don’t have a credit history yet, Avant might not be the right option for you.

Some of Avant’s highlights:

• Loan term – 2 to 5 years
• Loan amounts – $2,000 to $35,000
• Minimum credit score requirement – 580
• You get your money within one day
• No prepayment penalties
• Administration fee – up to 4.75%
• Fixed interest rates apply

Citizens Bank

Citizens Bank is one of the more traditional banks out there. They provide banking and credit services to foreigners, U.S citizens, and permanent residents. Their focus is on borrowers with a strong credit history and they prefer borrowers who are U.S citizens or permanent residents.

Some of Citizens Bank’s highlights:

• Loan term – 3 to 7 years
• Loan amounts – $5,000 to $50,000
• Minimum income requirement – $24,000
• They don’t charge origination or administration fees
• No prepayment or late payment penalties apply
• Fixed interest rates apply
• Cosigners are allowed

Earnest

Like many other lenders, Earnest prefers borrowers with a good credit history and financial strength. One of Earnest’s unique qualification criteria is they prefer borrowers who have enough savings to cover at least two months’ regular expenses. A perk Earnest offers, however, is payment flexibility. You can adjust your monthly payment amount and date if you need to.

Some of Earnest’s highlights:

• Loan term – 3 to 5 years
• Loan amounts – $5,000 to $75,000
• Minimum credit score requirement – 680
• They don’t charge origination or administration fees
• No prepayment or late payment penalties apply
• Fixed interest rates apply
• Cosigners are not allowed

FreedomPlus

FreedomPlus has a higher minimum credit score requirement than many other lenders. One of the great things about FreedomPlus is they don’t have a limit on the purpose their loans can be used for. This means no lengthy explanations are required.

Some of FreedomPlus’ highlights:

• Loan term – 2 to 5 years
• Loan amounts – $10,000 to $35,000
• Minimum credit score requirement – 700
• You can expect origination fees of up to 5%
• Only fixed interest rates apply
• You get your money within 48 hours
• No prepayment penalties
• Late payment penalty of the greater of $15 or 5% of the late payment amount
• Cosigners are allowed

LendingClub

LendingClub places a lot of emphasis on your credit history as a borrower. They require a minimum credit score of 600 and a minimum credit history of 3 years. You also need to have a debt-to-income ratio of less than 40% (for single applicants) or 35% (for joint applicants). Some of LendingClub’s perks are their flexibility to change your payment due date and their 15 day grace period for late payments.

Some of LendingClub’s highlights:

• Loan term – 3 to 5 years
• Loan amounts – $1,000 to $40,000
• Minimum credit score requirement – 600
• You can expect origination fees of up to 6%
• Fixed interest rates apply
• You get your money within one week
• No prepayment penalties
• Late payment penalty of the greater of $15 or 5% of the late payment amount  (but a grace period of 15 days are allowed)
• Cosigners are allowed

LendingPoint

LendingPoint is one of the few lenders who offer loans to immigrants and visa holders. They do, however, require a valid social security number. To help you manage your budget, LendingPoint has twice-monthly payments. This means that borrowers are responsible for twice-monthly payments, as opposed to monthly payments with most lenders.

Some of LendingPoint’s highlights:

• Loan term – 3 to 4 years
• Loan amounts – $2,000 to $25,000
• Minimum credit score requirement – 600
• Minimum income requirement – $20,000
• You can expect origination fees of up to 6%
• You get your money within one day
• No prepayment penalties or administration fees
• Cosigners not allowed

LightStream

LightStream is one of the lenders who offer the largest loan amounts. This means they can help if you are in a really big financial crisis or have a lot of high-cost medical expenses. One of LightStream’s perks is they tailor your interest rate according to the purpose you will use the loan for.

Some of LightStream’s highlights:

• Loan term – 2 to 7 years
• Loan amounts – $5,000 to $100,000
• Requires excellent credit
• Fixed interest rates apply
• You get your money on the same day
• No prepayment penalties or administration fees
• Cosigners not allowed

SoFi

SoFi is short for Social Finance. This lender is recommended for borrowers who have a high income and a good credit score. One of SoFi’s unique benefits is their job placement program. This program is designed to assist borrowers who lost their jobs without fault of their own by helping to find them a new one.

Some of SoFi’s highlights:

• Loan term – 3 to 7 years
• Loan amounts – $5,000 to $100,000
• No minimum credit score requirement
• No origination fees, prepayment penalties or administration fees apply
• Cosigners are not allowed
• They offer flexibility on monthly payments

Stilt

Stilt is a unique lender who focuses on providing loans to immigrants, visa-holders and other non-residents. Stilt does not require a credit score, green card or social security number for you to be eligible for a loan. They only require you to be employed, have a U.S. bank account and be a holder of one of the required visas.

Some of Stilt’s highlights:

• Loan term – 6 months to 2 years
• Loan amounts – $1,000 to $25,000
• No credit score requirement
• No origination fees, prepayment penalties or administration fees apply
• Does not require a green card or social security number
• Cosigners are not allowed

Upstart

Upstart doesn’t only take your income and credit score into account when qualifying you for a loan. Upstart also takes your academic and job history into account. The great perk about this is your academic and job history can possibly help you get a better rate!

Some of Upstart’s highlights:

• Loan term – 3, 5 or 7 years
• Loan amounts – $1,000 to $50,000
• Minimum credit score requirement – 620
• You can expect origination fees of up to 8%
• No prepayment penalties apply
• Late payment penalty of the greater of $15 or 5% of the late payment amount
• Offers flexible monthly payments
• Cosigners are not allowed

Conclusion

Whether the medical procedure you need to have done is planned or an emergency, a medical loan can definitely help you cover the cost. Make sure you do your homework properly, though, with the help of our comparison of the 10 best medical loans. It has everything you need to know to make an informed decision. Once you have found the right medical loan provider, you will be well on your way to taking better care of your medical expenses.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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