New York Attorney General to Investigate General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)’s CareCredit

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)’s CareCredit is being invested by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for allegedly misleading customers on the terms of its healthcare credit cards, reported the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Cuomo has issued subpoenas to the division of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Financial Services as part of a predatory lending investigation. Many doctors and healthcare providers receive a commission for registering new patients to the program, said media reports. Cuomo said that some providers pressure consumers into using the card and are rewarded with kickbacks in the form of rebates, said Cuomo in a statement.

“People are being tricked by misleading offers that have them paying for services they never received as well as interest charges they never knew about–and they are ignored and given the runaround when they try to get their money back,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo said that his office found that CareCredit charges providers a fee for the right to offer their cards and then rebates the fee based on how much revenue the providers generate through sales of CareCredit. The kick back arrangement has given incentive to push consumers to use CareCredit rather than other forms of payment, Cuomo said.

Consumers are advertised CareCredit as a way to pay for service which are not covered by insurance, such as chiropractic procedures, cosmetic work, dental work, vision care, weight loss and infertility treatments.

Cuomo subpoenaed 10 different providers which promote CareCredit and is asking several medical associations, including the American Dental Association to explain why they endorsed CareCredit and whether or not they received compensation for doing so.