Medical is one of the areas which are absolutely high cost. This statement can be falsified if enough precautions are taken in terms of the cost front. One major precaution that is absolutely possible is Insurance.
Medical Insurance acts as a boon many times, particularly when treatment involved is major surgeries like the Cataract. Cataract Surgery can appear to cost a fortune for those who are not covered under Insurance. The cost of Cataract depends on various factors.
Cataract Operation Cost
The good news about cataract is that medical insurance might be able to cover some of the cost for your treatment. However, even with no medical insurance, the cost of cataract surgery is manageable.
Generally, the cataract removal surgery cost has reduced over the years. In 2010, standard cataract surgery would cost $3,300 per eye, today that has been reduced to averagely $2,700 for each eye. Age cataracts and congenital cataracts can be easily cured by standard cataract surgery.
According to the Ophthalmology Innovators Summit participants, advanced cataract surgery with presbyopia-correcting lenses which used to cost $4,461 in 2010, costs about $4,337 today. Further, laser cataract surgery today costs about $872 making it a bit more expensive than standard cataract surgery.
Factors that determine the Cataract Cost
Cataract operation cost depends on many factors that are in the control of the patient and Doctor as well as out of their control. Some such factors that influence the Cataract cost are listed below.
- Availability of Insurance
Availability of Medical Insurance plays a crucial role in deciding the cost of Cataract operation. The medical processes involved in booking the surgery for Cataract ascertain the availability of Insurance during very early stages of documentation. If Insurance is available, then the charges for surgery are higher than the normal rates.
- Market Conditions
Market condition is the next factor that has a huge impact on the cost of Cataract Surgery. By market conditions, we mean the gap between demand and supply of Lens. When the manufacturing brands stop or lower their supply levels to the optical outlets it has a huge impact on the cost. The gap between the demand and supply decides on the cost variation of the lens, impacting the cost of the Cataract.
- Surgeon charges
Many surgeons charge the cost that they charge for normal vision correction for performing Cataract Surgery. This works out in different ways in different scenarios playing a crucial role in deciding the final cost workaround.
- Product type
Cataract Removal cost depends on the type of Lens people go in for. For instance, a normal mono-focal intraocular lens will cost lesser than the lens used to correct Presbyopia or Astigmatism.
- Type of Cataract Surgery
Cataract operation cost depends on the type of surgery the patient and the Medical professional choose to be performed. For instance, Laser Assisted Cataract Surgeries may cost more than the normal procedure done in non-Laser format.
- Premium procedures & products
Most of the times, unless the same is covered specifically under the Medical Insurance Cover, premium products used and high-cost processes adapted for the surgery does not get paid through Insurance Companies.
This directly adds to the cost of surgery from an ‘out of the pocket expenses’ angle
- Value adding combined surgeries
Doctors may recommend correction of other vision problems like Presbyopia and Astigmatism through parallel procedures while performing a Cataract Surgery on people. This increases the cost of the overall surgery in a direct manner.
Understanding the cost front before undergoing a Cataract Surgery is a must. People must talk to their Eye Doctor who plans to perform the surgery on them prior to the same to take pertinent decisions related to cost.
