Every health or medical insurer wants to get insurance coverage for the laser eye surgery and also for the LASIK eye surgery. According to the insurance provider, the object of offering insurance is to cover any loss, when any uncertain risk happens. They argue that any problem associated with the vision is not considered as the risk.
Why Most Insurance Companies Don’t Cover LASIK?
Insurance companies do not prefer to cover for the surgeries, such as refractive error corrective surgeries, for various reasons. First and foremost thing is that these are very expensive surgeries and if all the surgeries are paid by these companies, the financial burden increases hugely. They show the reason for not offering insurance for these procedures saying that these are cosmetic surgeries and so are purely elective. They mean that the procedures can only increase the quality of life, but without these surgeries, survival is not a problem at all. So, these procedures are not considered to be necessary surgeries.
Insurance Provider For LASIK
Insurance is provided by certain insurance providers. However, they offer only with some conditions. They are very specific about the refractive error shown in the prescription. For instance, some insurance companies offer insurance for LASIK surgery, if the existing power is more than -6D. There is no surprise that some companies offer full insurance coverage, if all their long list of conditions is satisfied. Some companies set this border line to even +/- 7.5. Each of the insurance providers has its own set of policies defined and set to offer possible insurance coverage its customers. Competition among the insurance companies is one benefit for the laser surgery patients, as they tend to offer more than the competitor.
So, Which Insurance Companies Offer?
There are very few insurance companies, which offer insurance paid for LASIK surgery and among them, the most important ones to mention are Blue Cross Blue Shield, Davis Vision, VSP and so on. They negotiate with the providers of LASIK often for offering a courtesy discount to their customers and help to offset the huge cost of the procedure, the customer wants to undergo. Most importantly they want their preset conditions to be fulfilled to offer this benefit.
Conditions To Fulfil
The first potential situation is the profession. If you are from military profession, LASIK, this medical bill can be covered under health insurance policy. Some specific occupations and some special forces in the military need specific requirements of vision without contact lenses or eye glasses. Hence, the soldiers need to undergo LASIK as the glasses and lens can hinder the operations in their profession. However, this surgery needs to be done only under the facility of military and some waiting period is also associated.
Another profession that can be covered under health insurance policy is acting, sports or entertaining. If you are from any of these professions and if the job demands the need for laser eye surgery, then you can make a case and demand the insurance providers to cover at least part of the charges.
Apart from the profession, if the LASIK potential patient has any genuine health concerns for wearing the contact lenses or eye glasses, such as severe allergies or dry eyes or especially, serious intolerance for wearing. A strong claim with a serious and genuine health concern can become key elements to claim for health insurance.