Cataract Surgery Fees
Our fees for cataract and lens replacement are among the most affordable in Southern California. We'll explain the basics here, but can provide more detail if you have specific questions about cataract, lens implants or your insurance coverage, call us at 877.828.2020.
If you have PPO health insurance (any plan where you can pick your doctor), most of the cost of care should be covered by insurance. Chances are that we already contract with your insurance carrier and are listed in your provider directory.
We contract with all of the major health insurance carriers including
Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna,
Great-West Healthcare, HealthNet West, Wellpoint, and others.
If you have Medicare, we are a participating provider. Insurance will cover the basic costs of cataract surgery including the surgeon fee, facility fee, and anesthesiologist fees. Costs for Lifestyle Lenses are not covered by insurance and are the responsibility of the patient.
We do not contract with any HMO plans. If you have HMO coverage, costs for care are not covered if rendered by our office. You may have the option of dis-enrolling from an HMO (such as Kaiser, PacifiCare, etc.) and if you are over 65 years of age this will allow you to regain standard Medicare coverage, which pays 80% of approved charges.
If you do not have health insurance coverage of any kind, we offer reasonable rates for care. For standard IOL care (conventional implant) costs are in the range of $4,600 per eye. This includes our preliminary testing, facility fee, surgeon fee and anesthesia fees. Costs for Lifestyle Lens implants are additional.
We will explain the costs of the various IOLs as appropriate in your situation after our consultation. Costs are different for astigmatism-correcting (toric) lenses, multifocals such as Tecnis or Restor, and adjustable-focus products such as Crystalens.
Most people are excited to find that IOL care is affordable. In fact, there are multiple payment options. You won't have to pay cash if you don't want to!
- Affordable Financing - We do work with several lenders that offer a variety of financing programs to make vision-correcting care affordable. Plans can include the following options:
- No initial payment ("Zero-down" plans);
- Zero-Interest for 3, 6, 12 and 24-month financing periods;
- Low, fixed-interest options for financing longer than 24 months, and
- No prepayment penalty.
- We can discuss these options best with you at the time of your consultation. Simply click one of our contact us links to initiate the process! We work with CareCredit, a division of GE Capital, one of the largest lending organizations to specialize in health care financing.
Flexible Spending Accounts ("FSA") - Depending on your tax bracket, using an FSA to pay for Laser Eye Surgery could save you significantly. Check with your benefits manager at work to find out if Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Spending Accounts are offered by your company. You specify how much of your salary you want deducted from each paycheck - this money is exempt from federal, state, and Social Security taxes. This money will be deposited in your Health Care FSA. Most companies allow you to spend the money any time during the year, even when it has not fully accumulated in your account. FSA funds that are not used get forfeited at the end of the year. We suggest scheduling your exam first, so you'll know how much to invest in your FSA.
Health Savings Accounts - ("HSA") - Many patients see an enormous win when they use their Health Spending Accounts for vision correction. Their tax-free funds pay for their LASIK procedure, and patients get to take advantage of the portability of their Health Spending Account. HSAs or Health Spending Accounts were created to encourage people to save for their retirements and medical expenses. Many patients take advantage of HSAs, because their accounts became tax-free through continued investment, and patients know any investment remaining, after paying for desired treatment, won't be forfeited when the year ends. HSAs are intended to be portable, and HSA funds do not get forfeited like Flexible Spending Accounts. HSAs are sometimes compared to IRAs and savings accounts. We strongly suggest you speak with your benefits manager or HR department, to understand all details regarding an HSA.
Because costs can vary depending upon your particular desires or needs, and due to product differences, we can't quote a single fee for IOL care. We therefore prefer not to quote fees over the phone or on the Internet. We understand that this can be somewhat frustrating to someone trying to shop by price alone online, and frankly we don't condone that approach. There are so many differences between surgeons, surgical technique, lens implants and follow-up care that price-shopping is just not a wise or practical approach. You need to visit with each surgeon before you make your selection, and base your decision on personal experience obtained at each center.
Here's an example of why fees can vary significantly for IOL care. At LA Sight, when someone opts for Lifestyle Lens care with us, the cost of any touch-up or fine-tuning care by laser is waived. Other centers charge up to $5,000 extra for this service. We understand that if a 'perfect' outcome is desired, we should do whatever is necessary to achieve that result, without adding hidden extra fees. Other practices may not embrace that approach.