Laser Eye Surgery Cost – How to Know If You’re Being Scammed

Laser eye surgery cost is advertised as being so varied across America that people are left confused. Who is scamming them? The clinics that charge astronomically high fees for a couple of minutes, or the clinics that offer bargain basement prices so one begins to wonder if they work out of a basement somewhere?

How Much Is Reasonable?

The first thing to keep in mind is that the cost of laser eye surgery will very rarely cost less than $1,000 per eye, much less $500.

The Charlotte Observer (March 11, 2004) reported that only 3% of all LASIK procedures are performed for less than $1,000 an eye.

Although LASIK could, in fact, cost $500, hardly anybody is eligible for the procedure at that cost since most people need more extensive correction, not to mention follow-up examinations post-surgery.

Laser surgery is a costly procedure, first of all, because the hardware is expensive. Think about it: a laser so fine and accurate that it can cut through a very thin layer of your eye? Aside from the costly technology, you pay for the training and expertise of someone who can do that.

Clinics also pay royalties to equipment providers (an additional $100 to $150 per eye royalty to excimer laser maker; $145 to $250 per eye royalty fee for a custom procedure), such as IntraLase^™, Alcon LadarVision^™, CustomVue^™ or WaveScan^™ Technology (the latter being originally intended for powerful telescopes to reduce the image distortion of distant objects in outer space).

Examples of Laser Eye Surgery Cost

To give you an idea of what is reasonable, here are what some of the more reputable clinics charge:

Katzen Eye Group
Standard LASIK = $1800 per eye or $3600 for both eyes
Custom LASIK = $2350 per eye or $4700 for both eyes
(An enhancement after the first year will incur an administrative fee of $250 per eye to cover the cost of using the laser.)

LasikPlus
Average price = $1,344

TLC Laser Eye Centers
LASIK surgeries = $1,900 to $4,000
(Procedures requiring operating room time are more expensive)

Inquire if there are charges for additional technology. In 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that adding WaveFront to a procedure “typically adds $100 to $400 to the cost of conventional LASIK”.

Read the Fine Print!

It is very cruel, therefore, that some clinics will advertise laser eye surgery at $299 and hope that you miss the fine print—which you will probably do if you are a candidate for laser eye surgery!

But since growing throngs of people turn to laser technology to correct their vision, and the competition between clinics has grown so intense, it was only a matter of time before a lawsuit cropped up somewhere.

In November 2005, Lasik Vision Institute was charged before the Florida Attorney General for allegedly misrepresenting the cost of the procedure in their advertisements—and forced to settle.

It is, therefore, not only wise to read the fine print, but also demand an actual laser eye surgery cost breakdown.