New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday an investigation into predatory health care lending that misleads consumers and pushes them into debt.
The investigation has found that some health care providers are pressuring people into using cards from CareCredit, a division of General Electric Co.'s GE Money consumer finance unit,
CareCredit often pays rebates to providers based on how much business they charge consumers on CareCredit cards.
The investigation was based in part on hundreds of consumer complaints to Cuomo's office. Consumers reported that health care providers said the credit card had "no interest," when it often carried retroactive rates of more than 25% if not paid in full during a promotional period.
Consumers also were unknowingly charged up-front for services they never received and their attempts to obtain refunds often were ignored. Meanwhile, CareCredit pays the health care providers in-full within 48 hours of the charge, according to the Attorney General's Office.
"People are being tricked by misleading offers that have them paying for services they never received as well as interest charges they never knew about," Cuomo said in a press release.
CareCredit did not reply Wednesday to inquiries.
