Laser-Assisted Refractive Surgery Costs

Written by John Taylor

Laser-assisted refractive surgery can be a very liberating operation, improving the patient's ability to see without the use of prescription glasses or contact lenses.

Like all medical procedures, laser assisted refractive surgery has a cost however, and the cost of the surgery and your ability to pay may factor into whether its the best decision for you and your vision. The cost of laser-assisted refractive surgery may vary wildly among providers and is dependent on many factors. About the only thing that's constant in the pricing of laser-assisted refractive surgery is that prices are quoted by the eye. One procedure only equals one eye, even if your surgeon corrects both eyes in the same doctor's visit.

According to a recent report, the average cost of laser-assisted refractive surgery per eye is about $2,314. The price of this surgery has increased over the past decade, but has held steady for the last couple of years. This trend is not expected to change, as the current state of the U.S. economy has many potential customers for laser-assisted refractive surgery choosing to stick with eyeglasses or contacts until their fortunes improve. One positive development is that more eye surgeons are charging a set price for their services, meaning that folks with complex cases will pay the same as those with simpler problems.

However, if the economy does not improve and eye surgery centers continue to see a drop in demand for their services -- and there's already been a double digit drop reported at many -- prices could actually increase as surgical centers move to protect their profitability.

Another bit of positive news for potential laser-assisted refractive eye surgery clients is the fact that surgery costs don't vary much among the types of surgery offered. LASEK, LASIK and PRK all cost about the same. Some of the newer techniques in each surgery type may increase the cost. In fact, the biggest variables in cost appear to be generated by the level of technology used in the procedure. For example, in 2000 the average cost of LASIK was only about $1,500. By 2006, however, the average price had climbed to about $2,100. During these years new techniques and refinements have been developed and introduced to the market, such as wavefront analysis and laser-created flaps. These new techniques will likely add cost to your surgery, but they also add quality to your procedure, increasing laser accuracy and reducing possible complications. For example, wavefront analysis improves LASIK by using a 3-D image of your eye to better guide the excimer laser involved in sculpting your cornea. The key benefits involved in wavefront are that not only improves how much you can see, but also how well you are able to see, improving your ability with fine detail and contrast sensitivity.

Laser-assisted refractive surgery is considered an elective surgery, and thus is not covered by many insurance plans. However, some plans do contract with eye surgeons to provide discounted prices for their insureds. Also, there are some options available to make the surgery more affordable, such as using money from your health care spending account to cover the cost, or perhaps claiming it as a tax-deductible medical expense.

If you don't have the cash on you for laser-assisted refractive surgery, you may want to finance it with a loan from a bank. Many eye centers have financing plans of their own, but the interest rates on these plans often run much higher than those offered by a conventional bank loan. However, if you have the money to pay for the surgery yourself, it's advised that you go ahead and pay for it, as going into debt is ill-advised in the current economy.

If you're considering laser-assisted refractive surgery, you should be wary of bargain basement offers. Some eye centers advertise that they'll perform eye surgery for as little as $499 per eye, but this advertisement is misleading. The circumstances under which the centers will perform the surgery for $499 are very restrictive, and most people will require more work than what's offered in the $499 deal. Also, as with anything else, you get what you pay for. You can't expect to get the best vision results for a bargain price, because the reason why the price is low may be because of inferior technology or an inexperienced provider. Your eyes are too precious of an asset to entrust to the low bidder, so if you're going to undergo laser-assisted refractive surgery, be ready to pay the industry standard price or else just settle for glasses or contacts until you are.