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I saw a tweet on Twitter today asking about the costs for LASIK and then saw an excellent blog post written by Jeff Kimball two minutes later. The blog post, LASIK Eye Laser Surgery costs, gives a great overview of why there are differences in LASIK pricing. There is no doubt in my mind that many patients think of LASIK as a commodity, shopping for the cheapest price possible. In my area, Northern New Jersey, I have seen prices range from a low of $1000 per eye to a high of $3500 per eye. As Kimball stated in his blog many factors go into these prices including:
- Surgeon experience
- State of the art equipment and facility
- Staff Training
- Follow-up with surgeon vs. local optometrist vs. technician
- Success rate of surgeon and center
- Laser located on site vs. shared laser at a center
- Breadth of procedures offered. Does center only do one procedure, or does it offer a wide gamut of procedures based upon the need of the patient?
Insurance generally does not cover LASIK. There are several ways to keep costs down including:
- If offered at work, flex spending dollars allow you to use pre tax dollars to pay for the procedure.
- Many practices offer 0% financing.
When deciding where to get your LASIK, it is important to actually meet and “interview” your surgeon. Not only must you need to determine if you are a good candidate for LASIK, you must also determine if the surgeon is the right surgeon for you. There are many questions that can help to determine this.
In conclusion, when deciding on LASIK the most important determination is the quality of the surgeon, not cost. We are, after all, talking about our eyes! I can honestly say that it is very common to hear my patients state that “the money spent on LASIK was the best money ever spent.”
