Most Denver laser eye surgery patients have a surprise waiting for them. When you find your Denver-based eye surgeon and discuss the possibility of hacing laser vision correction surgery, you’ll most likely discover that the procedure isn’t covered by insurance. There are several reasons for this, and your eye doctor will be happy to discuss payment arrangements or financing with you. But it helps to know why the procedure isn’t covered.
Vision correction surgery, wither Lasik or PRKJ, is what’s known as elective surgery. That means that you have no existing medical condition that requires the surgery, nor is it an emergency that you have the procedure. You can live a long, healthy life without correcting your vision – it’s certainly a improved life with better vision, but it’s entirely your choice to get the surgery so that you no longer need glasses or contact lenses. Whether you have your surgery in Denver or elsewhere, as an elective procedure you must be over 18 years old to get Lasik or PRK, you must be in good health and your eye doctor will want to be assured that you haven’t had a significant change in your prescription in the past year.
You should still check with your insurance carrier before your Denver laser eye surgery, because some of your appointments may still be covered by insurance. Your ophthalmologist’s staff should be able to help you with your financing and payment choices, but they won’t know what your insurance will cover. So go over every detail of your vision surgery with a representative from your insurance company first, so that you know which procedures and services are covered and which are not.
Also keep in mind that Denver laser eye surgery is not necessarily a permanent solution to your vision problems. If you have the surgery in your 20's or early 30's, you may find that you still need glasses in your 50's. Your vision will still be much better than it would have been otherwise – after all, the eye will continue to age as you do. Many people who get Lasik find they need reading glasses in mid-life. But evcen thouigh it’s not covered by insurance, many people in Denver and around the world opt to have refractive laser surgery to improve their vision, with great success.
By: Dean Iggo