What To Ask Your Provider
When considering LASIK, ask your chosen provider the risks of the procedure for your specific case. Explain what you think LASIK entails and what it can do for you, so they can correct you if you have any misconceptions.
You also want to ask them about the cost of the procedure, any systems they have in place for discounts or different ways to pay for it, and if the quoted cost covers follow-up appointments and any necessary enhancement procedures. If any costs arent covered, find out how much you can expect them to be and the likelihood that youll end up needing to pay for them.
You also want to ask about alternatives to LASIK, including these options:
- Glasses and contacts
If you arent eligible for LASIK for any reason, one of the above options may be a better choice for you.
What Are My Options If Insurance Doesnt Cover My Lasik Cost
If your insurance company wont cover the cost of LASIK, dont worry. Youre not alone, and there are a ton of financing options available to help you pay for the procedure in the way that best fits your budget. Tax-friendly tools like Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Account allow you to save for medical needs on a pre-tax basis. LASIK centers also offer financing options, so that you can pay for your procedure over time. If you have questions about how to fit LASIK into your budget, speaking with your financial adviser and LASIK provider are key steps in developing a plan.
Looking to learn more about the cost of LASIK eye surgery, and the financing options available? Start by scheduling your free LASIK consultation at your local laser eye surgery center. You can schedule your consultation by calling your LASIK center directly, or by filling out the quick contact form on this page. Your free consultation is an opportunity to speak with LASIK professionals, learn more about financing, and get answers to all of your laser eye surgery questions.
How To Reduce The Lasik Operation Cost
The cost of LASIK surgery, like any other surgical procedure, remains one of the primary concerns for patients. However, the good thing is that the cost of LASIK in India is easier on the pockets compared to other countries. However, people still look for ways to reduce the overall expense of LASIK treatment.
Typically, it may be difficult to cut down the cost but Pristyn Care can help in this aspect. We provide comprehensive care and services that actually reduce the expense for the patient. Such services include-
- Free consultation
- Free cab facility for pick and drop
- No-Cost EMI service
- Free post-surgery follow-ups
These services benefit the patients and help to save the cost. Contact Pristyn Care to get a clear understanding of these services.
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Ways To Reduce Lasik Costs
To make LASIK more affordable:
- Check to see what your insurance policy might provide, especially with in-network doctors.
- See if you can use pretax funds in a health savings account or flexible spending arrangement for the procedure.
- Look into financing options that would allow you to pay for LASIK over time.
Is Lasik Covered By Vision Insurance
Lasik surgery is usually not covered by vision insurance, but most plans provide a discount program for corrective eye surgery.
These discounts are typically considered a perk that’s in addition to the plan’s standard coverage for eye exams, eyeglasses and contact lenses. On average, a vision insurance plan can save you $948 per eye on Lasik surgery.
The amount you save on Lasik surgery is frequently more than your out-of-pocket costs for the vision insurance plan. This means vision insurance is a very good deal if you expect to have Lasik surgery.
Keep in mind that insurance benefits for Lasik usually can’t be combined. For example, if you have Lasik discounts through both your vision insurance plan and your health insurance plan, you’ll need to work with the surgery provider and the insurance companies to decide how you can get the best deal.
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Lasik From An Insurance Perspective
During a LASIK procedure, you will be awake but sedated. You will look closely at a bright light, and a small incision will be made in your cornea. That incision will allow a bit of your cornea to flip up, so eye tissue beneath the cornea can be removed. This reshaping process is designed to help light move efficiently through your eye, so that light is focused on the proper part of the retina in the back of the eye.
Insurance companies can be wary of offering coverage for an expensive form of care when there is another, less expensive, form of care that does much the same thing. Glasses and contact lenses, when applied properly, can help to correct vision loss problems. Since those solutions are in place, surgery might not seem like a medical necessity, even if it provides significant lifestyle and long-term financial benefits to the patient.
Since LASIK is not always considered a medically necessary procedure, according to the American Refractive Surgery Council, it is rare for insurance companies to cover the cost of care. These companies are likely to consider LASIK a cosmetic procedure you might use to eliminate the use of glasses and contacts not a vital and last-chance hope of regaining your vision. Just as your insurance company might require you to pay for lip filler or breast enhancement surgery, you might also be expected to pay for your LASIK surgery.
Who Is The Right Candidate For Lasik Surgery In India
LASIK is not recommended for every person who has vision problems. Before proceeding with the treatment, the individual has to go through comprehensive screening exams that evaluate the overall eye health and any underlying eye disease.
An individual is considered the right candidate for LASIK surgery if he/she-
- Is older than 18 years and younger than 40 years.
- Has a stable vision prescription for at least 1 or 2 years.
- Doesnt have a compromised immune system that affects the healing abilities.
- Has a prescription within certain limits.
- Has appropriate corneal thickness.
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Farsighted Lasik Surgery Cost: Will Insurance Cover It
If you are farsighted, you might find that you have to squint to see things up close or wear reading glasses to enjoy a book or newspaper. Fortunately, LASIK is an effective treatment option for farsightedness. In most cases, insurance will not cover the cost of surgery. However, there are ways to make farsighted surgery more affordable.
The Cost Of Lasik Eye Surgery
We collected data from five different LASIK surgery centers in major metropolitan areas across the United States. On average, it was found that LASIK eye surgery costs $2,385 per eye. This price is before any financial assistance from an insurance provider or a payment plan. The cheapest cost was found at LASIK Pro Eye Consultants in Orlando, Florida, for only $1,950 per eye.
The prices included in the table below are the cost of the procedure for one eye, but there can be additional fees pre and post-surgery. Many people have poor vision in both eyes and may therefore choose to get surgery on both of their eyes. Before scheduling surgery, make sure to ask your doctor about all of the potential costs to help avoid surprise bills.
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How To Find A Provider
People who are looking for LASIK doctors often ask friends or people they work with to recommend somebody. Or, they may ask their regular eye doctor for referrals.
Here are some other ways to find LASIK surgeons:
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Search online directories: Medical organizations such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology have website features that let you search for specialists by ZIP code.
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Contact teaching hospitals: Reach out to universities near you that have medical schools. They may be connected to eye surgery or vision-correction centers run by LASIK specialists.
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Check with your health insurer: If your health benefits include vision care, contact the insurance company. Maybe your plan is linked to doctors who offer LASIK discounts.
Are There Financing Plans For Lasik
To minimize the financial burden of LASIK, there are a number of financing plans available that can turn the cost of the surgery into an affordable monthly payment.
Many plans offer $0 down, 0% interest for up to two years, and most offer extended plans with interest for up to four to five years, says Dr. Shamie.
One such financial institution is Care Credit, which specializes in financing elective procedures such as LASIK or PRK, adds Dr. Diaz. Be sure to explore all of the options available to you.
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Lasik Cost With Insurance
Each vision insurance plan may provide slightly different benefits. Remember that your primary health insurance may contract with some of these vision plans to offer coverage.
If you already have health insurance, you can contact the company to see if they provide vision coverage.
Here is an overview of what different insurance plans offer:
VSP
VSP Vision Care provides 15 to 20 percent off standard prices or 5 percent off promotional LASIK pricing.
Under this plan, members will not pay more than $1,800 per eye for conventional LASIK or $2,300 per eye for custom LASIK. Enhancements or touch-ups are included at no additional cost.
EyeMed
EyeMed provides 15 percent off standard LASIK pricing or 5 percent off promotional pricing.
They also offer $800 off a custom LASIK treatment, but you cannot combine this with other discounts. You get free lifetime enhancements on most LASIK procedures.
EyeMed members can access these LASIK benefits through the U.S. Laser Network, which partners with over 600 LASIK surgeons nationwide.
Davis Vision
Davis Vision partners with QualSight to offer members up to 40 to 50 percent off traditional LASIK procedures compared to national pricing.
They also offer significant discounts on custom or bladeless LASIK procedures.
According to Davis Vision, their members pay less than $1,000 per eye for traditional LASIK. They pay about $1,400 per eye for custom LASIK. QualSight has an extensive network of about 1,000 LASIK surgeons to choose from.
MESVision
Lasik Costs Can Vary Based On Technology
Most refractive surgeons in the U.S. charge one price for all vision correction procedures performed with an excimer laser to reshape the cornea of the eye.
In other words, additional technology such as the use of a femtosecond laser to create the flap in the cornea for bladeless LASIK is included in a single fee and not priced separately as an “extra.”
Other LASIK surgeons, however, base their prices on the specific technology used during the procedure. For example, they may charge more for all-laser LASIK or custom LASIK that employs wavefront technology for a more customized procedure.
A small percentage of surgeons base their laser surgery prices on the strength of your eye prescription. With this kind of pricing, patients with stronger prescriptions will pay more than those with weaker prescriptions.
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How Much Is Lasik With Insurance
Some of the most common questions we receive about LASIK surgery focus on the cost of the procedure, and the payment options available to cover laser eye surgery. What is the cost of LASIK, and does insurance cover it?
Most insurance companies consider LASIK an elective or cosmetic procedure, which means that it wont be covered by most policies. There may be some exceptions where insurance companies will cover the cost of LASIK, and there are diverse payment or financing options available if your insurance policy doesnt cover laser eye surgery.
Health And Flexible Savings Accounts
The ARSC states that employers may allow individuals to use HSAs and FSAs to set aside tax-free money for their procedure.
What is an HSA?
An HSA is a bank account that individuals enrolled in a high-deductible healthcare policy can use to set aside pretax funds through payroll deductions. HSA contributions help people pay for medical costs that they cannot cover with a health insurance plan.
The HSA offers different annual limits for individuals and families and does not come with a time limit. People can use their funds when they need them and use any unspent money the following year without losing their balance.
What is an FSA?
People with access to an FSA can set aside pretax money from their paycheck and set the amount they want to contribute to their account. The amount of contributions a person can save per year depends on the Internal Revenue Service.
The ARSC states that the FSA allows people to access the funds of their annual contribution even if they have not made all the required pretax deductions for that particular year.
However, people need to use their contributions within 12 months. If they do not, they may lose access to their balance after this period. Individuals may also wish to check whether any plans allow them to save their funds for the following year.
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Why Is Lasik Not Covered By Insurance
Lasik eye surgery is a voluntary procedure. Even though it can correct nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism, it’s not considered medically necessary. Therefore, it’s not usually covered by insurance. However, many health and vision insurance companies offer discounts on Lasik with typical savings of $400 to $1,100 per eye.
How Does Lasik Compare Cost
Your LASIK eye surgery cost can vary based on the specifics of your procedure, but a cost of around $2,000 per eye is average. Today, a year of contacts can cost about $250 sometimes more if you require special lenses for conditions like astigmatism. Add in the contact lens solution your optometrist recommends, and the annual costs approach $400.
According to vision insurance provider VSP, the average price for eyeglasses is $196. Add in the designer frames you might prefer and features like polycarbonate lenses, scratch-resistant coatings and anti-glare, and you could be paying much more.
Also, many people like to have both contacts and eyeglasses, but insurance often only covers one type of lens each year.
Under these circumstances, its easy to see how LASIK could begin to pay for itself in about 10 years.
Hassle-free vision, though, begins the moment your procedure is complete.
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Lasik For Us Military Members
Service members in the U.S. military may be able to obtain LASIK and other corrective eye surgeries free of charge. It will depend on your assigned rank and duties in each branch. Do you need a vision plan that can help cover the cost of a Lasik procedure? Buying insurance can be confusing, but SmartFinancial can help simplify the process. We have helped shoppers save money on insurance, one policy at a time.
You dont have to spend hours comparing coverages and prices with different carriers. Our transparent technology platform matches people with the right insurance carrier and coverage. Youll only have to complete a simple application or speak with one of our expert insurance concierges. Well provide you with multiple quotes from insurance companies in minutes. Youll be able to pay online or in person. Its just that easy.
In Case You Missed It
Are There Preferred Providers Of Insurance Plans For Lasik
An insurance plan will offer its policyholders a network of healthcare facilities or professionals that will offer discounted services to these patients. These healthcare facilities or professionals are considered preferred providers of the insurance plan. Check your policy to determine which lasik surgeons/facilities fall under your insurances preferred provider organization.
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Can My Vision Insurance Help With Lasik Surgery
Most vision insurance plans dont cover refractive surgeries like LASIK, because they are elective procedures that arent medically necessary. These attitudes have slowly changed. A few vision insurance providers have decided to cover some but not the entire cost for this procedure. If your vision plan doesnt cover any coverage for LASIK surgery, Sra.Leads can help you find one that offers these elective benefits. Our transparent insurance technology allows you to compare plans and rates from multiple insurance providers in your area.
Vision plans generally cover only part of the costs. There are other non-insurance ways to lower the cost of LASIK procedures such as financing plans, Flexible Spending Accounts , and Health Savings Accounts. Some vision providers offer an insurance discount on treatment and additional savings when members use an in-network surgeon.
Getting Your Medical Insurance To Help Is Very Unlikely
Unless a patient has a visually significant cataract, which requires a lensectomy/ IOL, medical insurance will typically not pay for vision correction procedures because it is considered cosmetic. Under no circumstance is an elective vision correction procedure considered medically necessary.
We have written many letters to insurance companies to attempt to get LASIK covered as medically necessary when a patient is contact lens-intolerant and/or cant wear glasses . To our knowledge, in no case has medical insurance covered the procedure.
The only instance where medical insurance covers LASIK price or other vision correction procedures is in situations where they are specifically written into a policy at a higher premium, typically for the benefit of high-level executives of large companies.
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How Much Does Prk Surgery Cost
In 2019, the average cost of laser refractive surgery on one eye in the U.S. was $2,246 per eye, according to the analytics company Market Scope. That average covered PRK as well as other types of laser eye surgery like LASIK, or laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis. The cost that surgery practices reported to Market Scope bundled in all types of automated technologies, some of which you might opt out of under certain circumstances.
You need to cover that cost through health or vision insurance, out of pocket, or with a flexible spending account or health savings accountâor some combination of those. Surgical practices you are considering will give you the total fee for PRK surgery in advance.