OptiLASIK™ Laser Vision Correction:
Worth The Investment
When it comes to your eyes, can you afford to scrimp?
You've probably seen ads for “bargain” LASIK procedures: “$AVE BIG ON LA$IK: $299 per eye!” “ValuLASIK: Buy one eye, get one free!” If these “bargains” sound too good to be true, it's usually because they are – older technology or less sophisticated techniques may cut costs, but you may be sacrificing results for savings.
Remember, you've only got one set of eyes – invest wisely. If you're considering LASIK, do the research and make sure you're being treated right. OptiLASIK™ Laser Vision Correction is designed to work with the special characteristics of your eyes, for treatment that’s as unique as you are.
LASIK is a long-term investment in the health of your eyes and the quality of your vision. With the personalized treatment and more natural vision of OptiLASIK™ Laser Vision Correction, you can be sure you’re getting the most out of that investment.
On top of that, OptiLASIK™ Laser Vision Correction can actually wind up being less expensive than contacts and glasses in the long run. No more frames to buy. No more lenses to replace. No more cleaning supplies, lens cases, eye drops. A pair of glasses can cost $500 or more; you can spend just as much per year caring for contacts – if you’re looking for freedom from both, OptiLASIK™ Laser Vision Correction can be worth every penny.
Paying for LASIK
- Insurance
LASIK is an elective medical procedure. As a result, most health insurance plans do not cover the costs of vision correction surgery. However, some can provide coverage, so be sure to check with your insurance provider, just in case. - Cafeteria Plans
If your employer offers a Cafeteria Plan (Flexible Spending Account), you may be able to use that money to help pay for laser vision correction procedures like OptiLASIK™ Laser Vision Correction. The money you set aside in your Cafeteria Plan isn't subject to payroll taxes, meaning you get to keep more of your paycheck for the things you need. By using your Cafeteria Plan to help pay for OptiLASIK™ Laser Vision Correction, you're actually spending less money out-of-pocket. - Financing
There’s usually no need to pay your entire LASIK bill all at once. Most surgeons and laser vision correction centers accept credit cards, and many even offer financing so you can extend payments. When choosing your surgeon, talk to them about their payment options.
Glossary
Confused on LASIK jargon? Click on terms in bold to pull up the glossary tab.
Myopia:
a. Approval of the premarket approval application is for the WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System to perform LASIK treatments in patients 18 years of age or older for the reduction or elimination of myopic refractive errors up to -12.0 diopters (D) of sphere with and without astigmatic refractive errors up to -6.0 D; and in patients with documented evidence of a stable manifest refraction defined as less than or equal to 0.50 D of preoperative spherical equivalent shift over one year prior to surgery.
b. LASIK is an elective procedure with the alternatives including but not limited to eyeglasses, contact lenses, photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), and other refractive surgeries.
c. Approval of the application is based on clinical trials in the United States with 901 eyes treated, of which 813 of 866 eligible eyes were followed for 12 months. Accountability at 3 months was 93.8%, at 6 months was 91.9%, and at 12 months was 93.9%.
d. The studies found that of the 844 eyes eligible for the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) analysis of effectiveness at the 3-month stability time point, 98.0% were corrected to 20/40 or better, and 84.4% were corrected to 20/20 or better without spectacles or contact lenses.
e. The clinical trials showed that the following subjective patient adverse events were reported as “moderate to severe” at a level at least 1% higher than baseline of the subjects at 3 months posttreatment: visual fluctuations (12.8% at baseline versus 28.6% at 3 months).
f. Long-term risks of LASIK for myopia with and without astigmatism beyond 12 months have not been studied.
g. Note that the complete name for this ophthalmic laser is “WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System for laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) treatments of myopic refractive errors up to -12.0 diopters (D) of sphere with and without astigmatic refractive errors up to -6.0 D at the spectacle plane.”
Hyperopia:
a. Approval of the premarket approval application is for the WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System to perform LASIK treatments in patients 18 years of age or older for the reduction or elimination of hyperopic refractive errors up to +6.0 diopters (D) of sphere with and without astigmatic refractive errors up to 5.0 D at the spectacle plane, with a maximum manifest refraction spherical equivalent (MRSE) of +6.0 D; and in patients with documented evidence of a stable manifest refraction defined as less than or equal to 0.50 D of preoperative spherical equivalent shift over one year prior to surgery, exclusive of changes due to unmasking latent hyperopia.
b. LASIK is an elective procedure with the alternatives including but not limited to eyeglasses, contact lenses, photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), and other refractive surgeries.
c. Approval of the application is based on clinical trials in the United States with 290 eyes treated, of which 100 of 290 eligible eyes were followed for 12 months. Accountability at 3 months was 95.2%, at 6 months was 93.9%, and at 12 months was 69.9%.
d. The studies found that of the 212 eyes eligible for the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) analysis of effectiveness at the 6-month stability time point, 95.3% were corrected to 20/40 or better, and 67.5% were corrected to 20/20 or better without spectacles or contact lenses.
e. The study showed that the following subjective patient adverse events were reported as “much worse” by at least 1% of the subjects (in order of increasing frequency) at 6 months post final treatment: glare from bright lights (3.0%); night driving glare (4.2%) light sensitivity (4.9%); visual fluctuations (6.1%); and halos (6.4%).
f. Long term risks of LASIK for hyperopia with and without astigmatism beyond 12 months have not been studied.
g. Note that the complete name for this ophthalmic laser is “WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System for laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) treatments of hyperopic refractive errors up to +6.0 diopters (D) of sphere with and without astigmatic refractive errors up to 5.0 D with a maximum manifest refraction spherical equivalent (MRSE) of +6.0 D.”
Mixed Astigmatism:
a. Approval of the premarket approval application is for the WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System to perform LASIK treatments in patients 21 years of age or older for the reduction or elimination of naturally occurring mixed astigmatism of up to 6.00 D at the spectacle plane; and in patients with documentation of a stable manifest refraction defined as less than or equal to 0.50 D of preoperative spherical equivalent shift over one year prior to surgery.
b. LASIK is an elective procedure with the alternatives including but not limited to eyeglasses, contact lenses, photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), and other refractive surgeries.
c. Approval of the application is based on clinical trials in the United States with 162 eyes treated, of which 111 were eligible to be followed at 6 months. Accountability at 1 month was 99.4%, at 3 months was 96.0%, and at 6 months was 100.0%.
d. The studies found that of the 142 eyes eligible for the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) analysis of effectiveness at the 3-month stability time point, 95.8% achieved acuity of 20/40 or better, and 67.6% achieved acuity of 20/20 or better without spectacles or contact lenses.
e. The clinical trials showed that the following subjective patient adverse events were reported as “moderate to severe” at a level at least 1% higher than baseline of the subjects at 3 months post-treatment: sensitivity to light (43.3% at baseline versus 52.9% at 3 months); visual fluctuations (32.1% at baseline versus 43.0% at 3 months); and halos (37.0% at baseline versus 42.3% at 3 months).
f. Long term risks of LASIK for mixed astigmatism beyond 6 months have not been studied.
g. The safety and effectiveness of LASIK surgery has ONLY been established with an optical zone of 6.0 - 7.0 mm and an ablation zone of 9.0 mm.
h. Note that the complete name for this ophthalmic laser is “WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System for laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) treatments of naturally occurring mixed astigmatism of up to 6.00 D at the spectacle plane.”
Wavefront-Guided Treatment of Myopia:
a. Approval of the premarket approval application is for the WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System used in conjunction with the WaveLight® ALLEGRO Analyzer® device. The device uses a 6.5 mm optical zone, a 9.0 mm ablation/treatment zone, and is indicated for wavefront-guided (WFG) laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK): 1) for the reduction or elimination of up to -7.00 diopters (D) of spherical equivalent myopia or myopia with astigmatism, with up to -7.00 D of spherical component and up to 3.00 D of astigmatic component at the spectacle plane; 2) in patients who are 18 years of age or older; and 3) in patients with documentation of a stable manifest refraction defined as ≤0.50 D of preoperative spherical equivalent shift over one year prior to surgery.
b. LASIK is an elective procedure with the alternatives including but not limited to eyeglasses, contact lenses, photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), traditional LASIK and other refractive surgeries.
c. Approval of the application is based on a randomized clinical trial in the United States with 374 eyes treated; 188 with wavefront-guided LASIK (Study Cohort) and 186 with Wavefront Optimized® LASIK (Control Cohort). 178 of the Study Cohort and 180 of the Control Cohort were eligible to be followed at 6 months. In the Study Cohort, accountability at 1 month was 96.8%, at 3 months was 96.8%, and at 6 months was 93.3%. In the Control Cohort, accountability at 1 month was 94.6%, at 3 months was 94.6%, and at 6 months was 92.2%.
d. The studies found that of the 180 eyes eligible for the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) analysis of effectiveness at the 6-month stability time point in the Study Cohort, 99.4% were corrected to 20/40 or better, and 93.4% were corrected to 20/20 or better without spectacles or contact lenses. In the Control Cohort, of the 176 eyes eligible for the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) analysis of effectiveness at the 6-month stability time point, 99.4% were corrected to 20/40 or better, and 92.8% were corrected to 20/20 or better without spectacles or contact lenses.
e. The clinical trials showed that the following subjective patient adverse events were reported as “moderate to severe” at a level at least 1% higher than baseline of the subjects at 3 months post-treatment in the Study Cohort, light sensitivity (37.2% at baseline versus 47.8% at 3 months) and visual fluctuations (13.8% at baseline versus 20.0% at 3 months). In the Control Cohort, halos (36.6% at baseline versus 45.4% at 3 months) and visual fluctuations (18.3% at baseline versus 21.9% at 3 months).
f. Long term risks of wavefront-guided LASIK for myopia with and without astigmatism beyond 6 months have not been studied.
g. Note that the complete name for this ophthalmic laser is “WaveLight® ALLEGRETTO WAVE® / ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser System used in conjunction with the WaveLight® ALLEGRO Analyzer® device. The device uses a 6.5 mm optical zone, a 9.0 mm ablation/treatment zone, and is indicated for wavefront-guided (WFG) laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK): 1) for the reduction or elimination of up to -7.00 diopters (D) of spherical equivalent myopia or myopia with astigmatism, with up to -7.00 D of spherical component and up to 3.00 D of astigmatic component at the spectacle plane; 2) in patients who are 18 years of age or older; and 3) in patients with documentation of a stable manifest refraction defined as ≤0.50 D of preoperative spherical equivalent shift over one year prior to surgery.”