Understanding the Costs of Lasik

Getting to know what is the expenses involved in getting Lasik treatment done begins with knowing all about the surgery including the methods employed and what the treatment expenses is to the clinic.

Screening session

The start to the Lasik treatment begins with a screening session that helps in evaluating whether the treatment is apt for you or not. During this consultation, the counselor will try to gather as much information as is possible about your previous medical history, any conditions you are suffering from or have had in the past and will collect information about the medicine you are presently taking and the existing lens prescription.

You will also be made aware of the problems with your vision by the counselor who will also inform you whether Lasik will help in reducing the vision problems you are suffering from and whether you are a good candidate for the procedure. If it is related to you that you can go in for Lasik for your problems, you will even be offered a choice of going in for Custom Lasik for your treatment.

If you are given the option for going in for treatment through Lasik surgery, the charges towards treatment will be discussed with you. You might even be told about the various methods by which the payments can be completed. The charges that are given to you might include the entire treatment expenses together with the charges for follow up visits and further treatment, if any. Alternatively, it may include a lot of clauses that will cost you extra if any additional treatments need to be done.

There may be some choices for additional recommended procedures like an option of occlusion using punctum plugs where plugs are used to prevent the drain of tears into the nasal passage preventing dry eye. As Lasik is thought out to be an elective procedure, it is not covered by any insurance policy. But, it is advised to check if your policy does cover the expenses of the treatment.

Another route to take if insurance does not help is to check if the expenses can be reimbursed for which you can request for a breakup of the expenses for the treatment. The clinic will justify all its expenses saying it is a lifetime investment towards better vision. This however, may not be true to every case that takes up treatment through Lasik surgery. If expenses are huge criteria for you, it is best to weigh all choices before consenting for treatment.

Assessment prior to Surgery

You will need to get a thorough assessment of your condition before going in for the actual surgery. This usually takes about an hour or two to complete and involves an eye exam where your pupils is completely dilated. This is to ensure that you do not suffer from any other condition of the eye apart from the reason for which you are seeking Lasik treatment and will also give the surgeon additional information about the degree of problems you are facing. Even the state of the cornea is determined during this assessment.

The Actual Surgery

The duration required for the surgery is quite short and lasts around half hour. The procedure starts with putting in eye drops to anesthetize the eye after which the corneal flap is reflected using a surgical knife. Then the inner parts of the cornea are reshaped with an excimer laser and taking guidance from the measurements taken in the pre-surgical assessment. After the process is complete, the flap is placed back and the flap now conforms to the changed shape of the cornea. The entire procedure is done on an outpatient basis.

Follow up Visits

You will have been given information about when you need to come down for follow up visits after the procedure. The first visit will be a day following the procedure and then at regular intervals as you will be advised. Usually, there will be around four follow up visits in which healing and complications, if any will be evaluated.

Expenses

The costs you incur for the treatment is better respected if you think of it as a reimbursement to the clinic for the quality treatment that they have provided to you rather than thinking it as money out of your wallet. This is not a usual way to view the expense but you will feel it is money well spent if you think of it in this way.

You should remember that while the clinic and the Lasik surgeon is giving you treatment, they too are incurring certain expenditure on your treatments and they too have certain overheads to meet.

Even the equipment used for the procedure does not come cheap as it is highly state-of-the-art and very expensive. There is also some maintenance required regularly for these equipments to function well. There are lease payments taken out on the equipment and sometimes there are royalties to pay for the manufacturers of the equipment.

Apart from this the clinic has to bear all overhead costs of running their show which includes expenses like rent, equipment for the office, staff salaries, advertising, indemnity insurance, etc that all form a part and parcel of the charges incurred by you and every other patient to the clinic.