Though the mean annual percentage rate for general-purpose credit cards is about 16%, medical credit cards typically charge an APR of 26.99%, according to the report. Consumers can use the medical credit cards and financing plans to cover bills ranging from as little as $35 to as much as $40,000, the report said.
The medical card industry has grown, the federal agency said, though it provided only one data point at one of the three companies as evidence of that expansion. The number of CareCredit cardholders nearly tripled over a decade, from 4.4 million in 2013 to 11.7 million cardholders this year, the report said. It also noted there has been a proliferation of the types of cards available to consumers.
