CarePayment, which partners with hospitals and other healthcare providers to help patients pay for medical care, has received an additional $100 million in funding.
The Lake Oswego, Ore.-based company offers financing with no interest for up to six years for patients with out-of-pocket medical expenses they can't immediately pay. The company was founded in 2004 by private-equity firm Aequitas Capital, which remains the sole owner.
Included in the new agreement is a three-year credit facility of up to $60 million from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Previous funding has come from private investors, private-equity firms and pension funds, according to a CarePayment spokeswoman. She declined to provide CarePayment's total funding.
Providers pay program fees to CarePayment and products are co-branded by the provider and the company. Patients can use a smartphone or tablet to log into the patient portal to make payments or check balances. The company a year ago launched a new dashboard that provides providers with information about accounts receivable, quarterly performance fluctuations and self-pay collection practices.
The additional funding will “strengthen our ability to provide affordable financing solutions while removing the financial obstacles that patients face to access medical care,” CarePayment Chief Operating Officer Ann Garnier said in a statement.
CarePayment is predicting that increases in high-deductible health plans will mean that patients will need assistance with medical costs. Because CarePayment partners directly with providers such as Baptist Health Care in Pensacola, Fla., it also says its business can help hospitals stabilize their revenue cycles.
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