Average Cost of Lasik Eye Surgery

By Brandon Cornett
© 2011 All rights reserved

Welcome to The Average Cost of Things, where we help you put prices into perspective. This article explains the cost of Lasik procedures in the United States.

Over the last few years, Lasik eye surgery has become one of the most popular medical procedures in the United States. This laser-assisted surgery is used to reshape the cornea of the eye, which can result in better vision. The question is, how much will you have to pay for it? Here is what we discovered on the average cost of Lasik surgery in the United States.

What We Found on Lasik Costs

According to an article in the November 2009 issue of Consumer Reports ("Laser surgery: Go in with your eyes open"), the average cost of Lasik in the U.S. is about $3,314 for both eyes. You might pay more of less than this, depending on the type of procedure you have and your location.

A website owned and operated by the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance stated that the average cost ranges from $1,400 to $3,600 per eye, depending on the type of procedure you have and the skills / experience of the surgeon.

The price will also vary based on the type of procedure you have. There are different types of laser-assisted refractive surgery. You'll pay more for Wavefront custom Lasik than the conventional approach.

A Survey of Surgery Center Websites

In addition to the sources cited above, we visited 25 websites belonging to Lasik surgeons and surgery centers across the United States. We selected websites that offered pricing information, and then we averaged the numbers. Based on that process, the average quoted cost of Lasik eye surgery was: $2,085 per eye for the conventional technique, and $2,675 per eye for procedures using Wavefront technology.

Note that these are averages of quoted prices, so they do not reflect actual patient data. They reflect the pricing information being advertising on Lasik websites.

We also noticed that many Lasik surgeons offer financing plans, designed for patients who cannot afford to pay the full cost at one time. (Insurance often does not cover this procedure.)

When researching the cost of Lasik, be sure you make note of the pricing structure that is used (per eye vs. both). Many of the websites we encountered had bold pricing information on the home page, with language such as "as low as" and "lowest price around." It's as if they were selling used cars. Many of the prices quoted had an asterisk beside them, with fine print that explained the cost was per eye -- not for both.

Price Wars Among Lasik Surgeons

Based on our research, it's pretty clear there is a "price war" going on in this industry. We saw occurrences of celebrity endorsements, contests, competitor bashing, pricing gimmicks -- you name it. With the continued popularity of Lasik procedures, surgeons become increasingly competitive for patient dollars.

What does this mean to you, as a person considering such a procedure? It means you have to take bold claims with a grain of salt, and do plenty of research through reputable sources (such as the FDA). Don't take anything at face value, whether it's the quoted cost or the results promised.

Beware of Lasik "Fact" Websites

When researching the average cost of Lasik surgery, we encountered quite a few websites that claimed to present Lasik facts. It didn't take much digging to discover the true purpose of these sites -- most of them were designed to capture and sell leads to Lasik surgeons. There was also a serious lack of research to back up their so-called "facts." If you want some background information on this kind of surgery, I would visit the FDA's guide. In other words, you should get your facts from reliable sources, not from people who just want to sell you a surgery.

Know the Risks of Surgery

This article is not meant to endorse Lasik eye surgery. We remain neutral on the subject and only report the average cost of such surgeries. With that being said, you should know that this procedure has some potential risks associated with it. You can learn more about them in this article.