Fees, Pricing and Affordable Financing Options

at LA Sight

• 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, and 12-month financing periods;
  • Low (fixed-interest) options for financing longer than 12 months, with rates starting in the 5.7% apr range; 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 do work with Care Credit and Capital One Healthcare Finance, among others, who offer financing programs.
  
• 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, more often, 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.
  
  
• Insurance Coverage & Discounts - Please contact your HR department to determine if you might be eligible for a discount or coverage through your Health or Vision plan.  To our knowledge, very few health insurance carriers or vision plans provide coverage for surgical vision correction. Most carriers consider LASIK and other vision-correcting care non-covered forms of elective surgery similar to aesthetic surgery. "Vision Care" coverage such as that provided by Vision Service Plan ("VSP") and Medical Eye Services ("MES") typically does not cover the cost of vision-correcting treatment, but coverage can vary from from one group or company to another, and on occasion there is some (limited) coverage or discount consideration that may apply.  Vision care plans like VSP and MES are really not designed to cover more than annual eye exams, eyeglasses and contact lenses.
  
  
• Tax Refunds - If you know you're going to get money back, then you may as well reinvest it in something great for yourself. 

We prefer not to quote fees over the phone or on the internet. If you are seriously interested, or even casually shopping, we ask only that you come in for a personal visit and (free) consultation. We’ll answer all your questions, including specifics about price, financing, and working with your tax-free FSA or HSA account (if offered by your employer). 

If it seems confusing that there is not one price for all LASIK (we know this is confusing to most people, and we are sympathetic) we would ask you to give some thought to the following:

LASIK is not a commodity item that is the same from every provider (though on first glance you might assume it is!).  There is a wide spectrum of variability in technology, provider experience, and, most importantly, accuracy and quality of results among different centers.  As an example, consider the difference in image quality between two photographs, one taken by a professional photographer with great lighting and equipment; the other taken by a tourist (or other amateur) with a disposable camera.  Though the subject matter may be the same, the images will certainly be vastly different in quality.  Where laser vision correction is concerned, for example, the Wavelight Allegretto laser that we use is the only laser system to have presented data to the FDA showing that night vision quality can be better after LASIK than best-corrected (glasses or contact lenses) before treatment .  All other laser systems can only say "it's almost as good".  The accuracy of correction achieved is better with our Allegretto laser as well, which is reflected in a significantly lower enhancement rate compared to that found when we have (in the past) used other lasers.  These are but two of many examples of quality and results differences between different lasers, surgeons and centers.

Vision correction pricing depends upon many factors as well. These would include, but not be limited to, the cost of the technology in place; experience of the surgeon and staff; overhead; investments in new technology (upgrades, enhancements, etc.); and other factors too numerous to itemize. At LA Sight, we have several financing programs available, and we’ll work hard to find an option that meets your needs.

Think of LA Sight like you would a custom tailor for your eyes and your vision. We’ll work with you to see that you achieve the results you desire, and keep it within your budget. And unlike some centers, we give you our commitment that we’ll be there afterwards to answer any questions, take care of any minor issues, provide enhancement, whatever.

Teaser Rates : Many are confused or misled by the “teaser” prices advertised by some of the discount centers, “starting as low as $499 per eye.” These centers don’t explain in their ads that their pricing varies depending on the patient’s prescription, and only a tiny percentage qualify for the lowest price. These centers all use variations on a theme of a pricing matrix or lookup table to calculate your actual price. If you have almost no nearsightedness and no astigmatism (less than 4% of prospective candidates fit this scenario) then you may qualify for the $499 per eye fee. The average fee generated at these “discount” centers is in the range of TWICE the teaser fee or more. Look it up for yourself below!

The discounters know that the teaser rate will inspire you to call, and if they can just get you in the door, then they can lean on you to 'close the sale.' They have to offer a small percentage of patients the $499 per eye fee, otherwise what they are doing would be “bait and switch” advertising, which is illegal in California and most other states. Curiously, it is not illegal to bait and switch if they’re only doing it 96% of the time. Go figure…

Shown below is one of the pricing matrices for a deep discount laser center that recently closed. Did we mention that most of the discount LASIK providers are bankrupt, have closed, have founders convicted of fraud, or have disappeared from the southern California area? We can give you specifics on this if you would like, at the time of your consultation. 
 

If your actual prescription is, for example, -6.50 –2.25 x 150 in both eyes, the “discount” price would be $1,749 per eye, or $3,498 for both eyes. This is no discount from the "middle-tier" providers whatsoever. Note the following as well:

• The discounters do not quote prices for farsightedness treatment . The brand of laser typically used by the discount centers is not approved for treatment of farsightedness. The Alcon LADARVision laser we have at LA Sight (and all other lasers that we have access to at other facilities) are approved for, and do a great job correcting farsightedness up to +6.00 or so, with and without astigmatism. In addition, Dr. Wallace was one of the investigators for the original FDA clinical trials of laser treatment for farsightedness, so he has several years more experience than even most other surgeons rendering this treatment.
  
• The discounters typically include very limited follow-up care . After one month, they charge as much as $150 per visit. This creates a built-in disincentive to return for care, and discourages a good follow-up relationship with the office. Basically, this is their way of saying, "Now go away."
  
• It is often not possible even to get the "teaser price" even if qualified, according to a July '03 ABC Action News report ("Trying to Get LVI's Advertised Rates for LASIK? Good Luck) which discusses the "bait and switch" practices of a Florida chain of LASIK centers.