Preparing for the Cost of Cataract Surgery

One main reason for blindness in the elderly not just in the U.S. but all over the world is the formation of cataracts. In order to remove cataract, one needs to go through cataract surgery. Cataract surgery involve the use of ultrasonic vibrations to disintegrate cataract or the surgical removal of the lens or the lens (plus the capsule) and the replacement of the lens with an artificial one. In preparation for a surgical procedure like this, it’s helpful to know the standard cataract surgery cost.

It can cost about three thousand dollars ($3000) per eye for cataract surgery. This cost will be variable depending on who performs the surgery and where it is done. Assuming that the procedure will be done in a hospital, one may expect a higher cost for charges like operating room fee and other services. Having health insurance is definitely an advantage particularly if the coverage is sufficient. For instance, Medicare pays for the cost of the operation as well as some medicines and eye drops after the procedure.

Generally, the detailed price of the surgery itself starts out at two thousand five hundred fifty dollars ($2500). Aside from this, about five hundred dollars ($500) and three hundred dollars ($300) will be spent for the anesthesiologist and for the tests before the surgery respectively. The estimated cost is simply based on the use of monofocal lens and the removal of the cataract plus lens. The use of a multifocal lens will further increase the cost the procedure by about three thousand dollars ($3000). Such possibility is common as cataract formations usually progress from one eye to the other. The general approach is to do the procedure on one eye at a time. However, for extreme and severe cases cataract surgery may be done to both eyes.