Plastic Surgery: How Do People Worldwide Pay for It?
An international survey on how people pay for plastic surgery tells as much about the various nations in the survey as it does about the ways patients pony up for cosmetic plastic surgery.
For instance, Americans are noted for keeping low levels of savings and high levels of debt.
The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) recently released the results of a survey that included the responses from about 2,500 plastic surgeons all over the world.
Plastic surgery worldwide falls into the following categories:
- Procedures of the Face
Includes face lift, rhinoplasty, eyelid lifts and soft tissue fillers like Restylane.
- Procedures of the Breast
Includes breast augmentation and reduction, along with breast lift.
- Aesthetic Body Contouring
Includes tummy tuck, liposuction and body shaping.
They asked how patients pay for cosmetic plastic surgery. The answers:
- Western Europe: 26.7% of patients pay in cash. Insurance covers 14.3% of patients who have surgery here and 26.7% more use a combination of insurance and another form of payment.
- United States: 31.6% use credit cards. 24% use a combination of cash and credit cards. There is a higher instance of financing here.
- Brazil: 54.5% pay in cash.
- South America (other than Brazil): 47.4% pay in cash.
- Korea: 66.7% opt for credit cards.
- Japan: Cash and credit cards both equal 26.3%.
- Rest of Asia: 46.7% pay in cash.
The plastic surgeons had no way of knowing if cash customers had taken out a bank loan, so this may skew the data slightly.
The survey also revealed that 41.4% of surgeons in Western Europe do not take credit cards at all.
43% of surgeons in South America also turn down plastic, along with 24.5% of plastic surgeons in Asia.
But, remember we said the survey tells you something about the various member nations?
Among U.S. plastic surgeons, only 4.3% said they do not accept credit cards.
How do you pay for things in this economy?
admin @ March 10, 2009