Fintech Offers Benefit to Help Employees With Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs

Paytient, a provider of financial technology that helps patients avoid medical debt through employer-sponsored benefits, has launched what it says is the first interest-free, payroll-deducted payment plan for out-of-pocket health care expenses.

Employees are given a payment card that they can use to pay health care providers in full. After they use the card, they can set up a payroll-deducted payment plan of their choosing—electing, for example, to pay back a $500 charge via 10 payroll deductions of $50. “This removes financial barriers to care—thereby making sure patients can get care when they need it—while also keeping them away from more financially toxic payment options (e.g., credit cards, payday lenders, 401(k) loans, medical debt),” Paytient says.

The firm announced that Trent Haywood, M.D., J.D., will be joining the company as a strategic adviser. Haywood will support the company by guiding go-to-market efforts and shaping the overall product roadmap—with a particular focus on helping patients by creating partnerships among employers, health care providers and payers.

Previously, Haywood served as the president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute and was the chief medical officer of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA). In addition, Haywood led national efforts to implement value-based health care as chief medical officer at Vizient (formerly VHA Inc.) and deputy chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). He earned a medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University.

“When one-third of Americans are carrying medical debt, we need innovative solutions that work at the intersection of employers, health systems and health plans,” Haywood says.