How much should your cataract surgery cost? The cost of cataract surgery is determined by several variables. The average price at a major medical center is $3,300 per eye for basic surgery with a standard intraocular lens (IOL). Each year over four billion dollars are spent on cataract surgery by Medicare alone. Today Medicare and most insurances cover the cost of a basic procedure.
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world today and account for nearly half of all blindness. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 18 million people are blind from bilateral cataracts worldwide. In the Unites States, an estimated 20 million people suffer some degree of cataract and forty thousand are blind as a result.
As many as one in every five people over the age of fifty-five have some degree of cataracts in the US. The standard treatment for cataracts is surgery. With more than 500,000 procedures performed each year, it is the most common surgical practice in the United States. It is also one of the safest and and most successful with a 94% success rate. Cataract surgery cost is this an important topic.
With private insurance, the cost is covered after any applicable deductible is met. In some cases there are still possible out of pocket expenses to be considered. These include charges related to anesthesia, prescription eyeglasses to enhance vision post-procedure, and the cost of any follow-up procedures or care resulting from complications.
The most common complication is posterior capsule opacification (PCO) where the residual membrane left in the eye becomes cloudy. The laser procedure to correct this costs approximately $300 and is usually paid out of pocket.
There are other factors that can increase cataract surgery cost. Presbyopia is a common condition caused by loss of elasticity in the eye as a result of the aging process. This causes the lens of the eye to lose its ability to focus, making it difficult to see objects up close.
During cataract surgery the lens can be replaced with a presbyopia correcting intraocular lens (PC-IOL). This procedure is not considered medically necessary since the condition can be corrected with reading glasses, and is not covered by Medicare or private insurance. The average cost for this type of lens is $1,830 per eye.
The other condition that may increase cataract surgery cost is astigmatism. With astigmatism, either the cornea, the clear tissue covering the front of the eye, or the lens itself is abnormally curved. This causes vision to be out of focus and makes it difficult to see details, whether close up or in the distance.
During surgery, the lens can be replaced with a toric intraocular lens (Toric-IOL) in lieu of a standard lens to correct astigmatism. Again, because the condition can be corrected with glasses, it is not considered medically necessary and will cost on average an additional $980 per eye.
Astigmatism can also be corrected during cataract surgery by making incisions either in the edge of the cornea or the area where the cornea meets the white of the eye, allowing the cornea to relax into a more normal shape. This procedure costs on average $530 per eye.
If you’re worried about your cataract surgery cost, contact your local eye centers. These are plentiful in every town and will give you the latest information on what this procedure costs.