Major Health insurer Covers LASIK Treatment
One of Michigan's and the nation's largest health insurers said it will pay up to half of corrective laser eye surgeries, including Lasik Surgery.
UnitedHealthcare, with 400,000 Michigan members, said it will now offer partial coverage (upto 50%) for corrective laser eye surgeries, including the popular Lasik procedure. The procedure costs an average of $1,800 per eye.
Until recently, corrective eye surgery had been considered an elective procedure. UnitedHealthcare is among a growing number of insurers providing coverage for LASIK and similar procedures.
"There's more of a trend now in terms of looking at the long-term costs of care," said Stephen Kaufman, a Henry Ford Health ophthalmologist with offices in Grosse Pointe and Troy. "It's a worthwhile procedure if you consider how much glasses and contacts cost in the long run."
In recent years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the state's largest health insurance provider with 4.7 million members, also has begun to offer policies that include LASIK coverage.
UnitedHealthcare members who have recently renewed their coverage will be eligible. The surgery will be provided through UnitedHealthcare's Health Allies unit, which will contract with doctors to perform the surgery at a discounted price, UnitedHealthcare spokesman Greg Thompson said.
Despite the growing popularity and the fact that LASIK can fix problems that contacts and glasses cannot, LASIK is still considered an elective and elite procedure, but coverage from more insurance companies could change that.
"It gives people an option they didn't have before," Kaufmann said.
About 60 million Americans are eligible for LASIK, which treats a number of common eye conditions, including nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. This year, more than 1.3 million people are expected to have the surgery.
Doctors say that up to 99 percent of patients undergoing new LASIK procedures achieve vision very near 20-20, the standard for perfect sight.
Ophthalmologists perform LASIK by cutting a flap in the cornea. A hinge is left at one end of the flap, which is folded back to reveal the stroma, the middle section of the cornea. Pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced. By reshaping the corneal tissue, the ability to refract light is enhanced.
As new technology (IntraLase) emerges that makes better results possible, the procedure is becoming more costly. The average price went up $178 between 2003 and 2004, according to St. Louis-based TLC Vision, one of the nation's leading LASIK providers.
Filed under Eye Treatment |
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