How much does LASIK surgery cost in 2020?

Charges for the LASIK procedure can vary widely depending on the type of procedure, surgeon and even the region of the country. The range of cost for LASIK per eye is typically between $1,750 to $2,500 in the U.S. , all things included. Often extremely low prices of $399 or $695 per eye are heavily promoted in advertising as a "bait and switch" tactic. [They would apply only to a very few patients -certainly no more than would be required to demonstrate to an FCC complaint, and are designed to get you in the door when the real fee will be presented at the end of the exam.]

For almost all patients, LASIK corrective eye surgery is completely out of their own pockets. This may lead some into thinking you have to have a Taylor Swift level of wealth (she just recently had it done) in order to afford it. But the truth is, even though other procedures, like an appendectomy, are covered by your insurance provider, LASIK is actually far less expensive. Contrary to what you may have heard, LASIK is affordable because it is not covered by insurance. According to CBS news, the average cost of an appendectomy in 2014 ranged anywhere from $1,500 all the way up to $180,000. Between the late 1990s and 2016, the cost of hospital and related services in the US rose by more than 177 percent. This has sparked concern, and rightfully so, that too many Americans are going without care due to skyrocketing costs.

The cost of LASIK surgery, on the other hand, has dropped by 44 percent over the years. In 1998, when LASIK first appeared, it cost a patient about $2,500 per eye in the US. Adjusted for inflation, that would be about $4,000 per eye in today's economy.

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic