In a news article where an insurance company describes how health insurance has become increasingly expensive and unaffordable, a conjecture that the lack of insurance coverage for LASIK caused LASIK prices to fall is present.

The Chief Marketing Officer of PCI Insurance Inc. argues that insurance coverage of medical treatments removes the “…consumer choice and the pressure…” that the market exerts on such treatments. He continues by saying that “…only after consumers are given a choice… will the quality of care improve and costs fall.”

Based on the evidence presented to us so far, I’ll have to agree with his assessment. From the exorbitant $3,000 people used to pay for LASIK eye correction surgery, it now costs less than $1,000. And it’s now safer too, with iris registration technology, for example, backing LASIK up.

Imagine if LASIK surgery was covered by insurance. Even if there were alternatives such as Implantable Collamer Lenses (ICL), no one would bother with anything other than LASIK since LASIK would be covered by health insurance policies. LASIK costs would decline only slowly, or perhaps even increase, as LASIK surgeons face no credible competition.

So, for once, perhaps we should be thankful that LASIK surgery was never covered by insurance policies. However, I believe it is high time that it was. After all, prices are already rock bottom.