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Home > Archive > Lasik Eyes Surgery > December 2004 > Socialised medicine and Lasik (re RM's post)
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Socialised medicine and Lasik (re RM's post)
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| Australia has socialised medicine like they have in England and Lasik
is not covered as it is considered "cosmetic". It is also not covered
by private health insurance (I have both private cover and the public
cover enjoyed by every citizen) My question is this - is lasik covered
in the U.S.A if you have private health insurance? I was under the
impression that it isn't.
Regards,
Linda.
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| Glenn - USAEyes.org 2004-12-20, 7:17 pm |
| As a general rule, government and private medical insurance plans will
not provide coverage for LASIK or similar laser refractive surgery
techniques.
Some managed care plans, especially vision and medical HMOs and PPOs,
will contract with selected surgeons or facilities to provide
refractive surgery at a discounted rate. The HMO does not provide any
money to the surgeon, but the patient will receive the benefit of a
lower cost for refractive surgery.
The problem with this scenario is that many times the negotiated rate
is actually higher than the current market rate. Sometimes the plan's
negotiated rate is higher than the current market rate from the same
provider. Even if a HMO provides "coverage", it may not be very
valuable.
Indemnity medical insurance plans - the ones that pay a percentage of
the bill - usually do not provide coverage for refractive surgery.
These types of plans normally exclude what they consider to be
cosmetic or, at the very lease, elective. However, this is not always
true. Some indemnity insurance plans will cover refractive surgery and
so it is in the patient's best interest to determine exactly what his
or her individual plan will cover.
All types of insurance plans have exclusions and limitations.
Normally, anything that is considered cosmetic and most elective
surgeries are either limited or excluded. There are conditions when
refractive surgery may be considered a necessary medical procedure.
Some employers have medical flex plans that allow a patient to spend a
certain amount for any medical care, including cosmetic and elective
procedures.
Refractive surgery is a medical expense, and under certain
circumstances it is deductible from US federal income taxes, including
Flexible Spending Accounts.
Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
I am not a doctor.
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| In article <60a75051.0412201606.ff7f1ea@posting.google.com>,
djken@optusnet.com.au (Linda) wrote:
> Australia has socialised medicine like they have in England and Lasik
> is not covered as it is considered "cosmetic". It is also not covered
> by private health insurance (I have both private cover and the public
> cover enjoyed by every citizen) My question is this - is lasik covered
> in the U.S.A if you have private health insurance? I was under the
> impression that it isn't.
> Regards,
> Linda.
No, insurance doesn't cover it. Some insurance plans have special
arrangements with certain providers to offer a discount. However, my
surgeon didn't qualify under my plan.
--
~RT
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| Ragnar 2004-12-25, 10:07 pm |
| LASIK isn't covered in the U.S. LVI operates a fake "insurance
company" in which you actually are pre-paying for eyecare which you
may or may not ever have. Their "insurance policy" is only valid at
LVI centers.
On 20 Dec 2004 16:06:52 -0800, djken@optusnet.com.au (Linda) wrote:
>Australia has socialised medicine like they have in England and Lasik
>is not covered as it is considered "cosmetic". It is also not covered
>by private health insurance (I have both private cover and the public
>cover enjoyed by every citizen) My question is this - is lasik covered
>in the U.S.A if you have private health insurance? I was under the
>impression that it isn't.
>Regards,
>Linda.
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