Why do insurance companies not pay for Lasik Eye Surgery?

Question

Seems like they want people to go through the rest of your life wearing eye glasses or contact lens. There doesn't seem to be any real cure of people with poor eye sight. Their eye sight will always get worse. Is poor eye sight a condition that is not treatable? All the eye doctor does is get a person stronger glasses over their life time. If Lasik Eye Surgery is close to a cure for poor eye sight why doesn't the insurance companies approve of it?

Answer 1

Because no insurance company is going to cover an elective procedure involving cutting into healthy tissue, for no reason save for cosmetics and saving time, at the risk of them having to spend another 10 years covering the treatments for when things go wrong.

Answer 2

They consider it not medically necessary.

Many people who have had it done, have developed problems. One is it gives people dry eyes. If the person already has dry eyes, it makes that worse and that person is in constant pain.

It's not a cure for everyone.

I could never get it done.

Peoples' vision stabilizes.  It does not get worse.

Answer 3

Lasik is not a cure for poor eyesight and it won't work for everyone. It is only intended to reduce dependency on contacts or eye glasses.

  Yes, poor eye sight can be treated -- with glasses and contact lenses and surgery in certain cases.  And eye sight does not always get worse, it can stabilize and stay the same for may years.

Answer 4

Fence Me,

Poor eye sight is not a disease.  Eye sight does not always get worse.  I am 50 and have the same prescription since I was 18.

Now at my age I need reading glasses as well, since after 40 everyone begins to lose muscle tone in the muscles inside the eye that focus.  In addition, the lens inside the eye becomes less flexible which also increases the need for reading glasses.

LASIK can reduce or eliminate the need for distance glasses, it does not reduce everyone's need for reading glasses  with advancing age.  LASIK is not a cure.  

LASIK is considered cosmetic surgery/ elective surgery/ optional surgery and is therefore not curing a disease process and thus not covered by insurance.

Aging effects every system in the body and until someone discovers the secret to eternal life, we will all get older, we will all need reading glasses and we will all get age related weakening of sight, hearing, reflexes,  etc.