by Alison Storm | 08/31/10

Lasik eye surgery, pricey dental work, and cosmetic surgery can be expensive and often isn't covered by insurance policies. That's why thousands of dentists and doctors are offering health-care credit cards to help pay for the work. But New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is warning consumers to beware, according to the Washington Post. His office is investigating practitioners who may be providing deceptive and sometimes fraudulent products. Cuomo warns to read the fine print before signing up for a health-care credit card.

Cuomo says his office has received hundreds of complaints from people who have used these credit cards. Minnesota's Attorney General also investigated the practice and has sued two chiropractic clinics accused of signing unknowing patients up for credit cards and racking up bills for services they didn't provide. The Washington Post reports that many patients are under the impression that they're working out an extended payment agreement with their medical provider and don't realize they're signing up for a credit card. And the credit card doesn't always offer great terms.

Some consumers report receiving interest charges over 25 percent on the entire amount when they failed to pay off the debt within a certain time period. The Washington Post interviewed Maxine Veach, a 60-year-old retired postal worker who racked up a big bill with a dentist and ended up signing up for a health-care credit card to offset what the insurance company didn't cover. She ended up receiving a credit card bill for more than $2,000. Now she's looking for a new dentist. "I was very upset with them," she told the Washington Post. "I told them they had a nice little scam going on."