LASIK surgery is a life-changing procedure. Your services free patients from the burden of glasses and contacts and give them clear vision, maybe for the first time. Accepting certain payment types broadens your patient pool, makes LASIK more affordable, and helps you book more surgeries.
This article from United Consumer Financial Services explores the various payment methods a LASIK surgery center can (and should) accept. Read on to learn which payment types your patients use and how to attract them with versatile options that meet their needs.
Encouraging Elective Care
Even though LASIK surgery can significantly improve a patient’s quality of life, it’s not medically necessary. That means patients can’t rely on insurance to cover their costs.
Scheduling consultations and surgeries will happen only if patients can reasonably and responsibly afford your services. With LASIK costing thousands per eye, surgery centers must make every effort to provide options that increase the procedure’s affordability.
While no insurance plan might fully cover the cost of LASIK, you can accept specific payment methods that encourage your patients to schedule appointments because they know they can afford your services. We explore those payment types below.
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Vision Insurance Discounts
LASIK is an elective surgery. Most insurance companies –– even vision insurance companies –– and policies don’t cover LASIK like they do glasses or contacts.
Your patients’ surgeries will not be covered entirely by their insurance, but many insurance providers offer LASIK discounts that make the procedure significantly more affordable. Aetna, Cigna, and CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield offer helpful price breaks that make LASIK an affordable opportunity at a better quality of life.
According to GoodRx, CareFirst plans offer up to a 30 percent discount on LASIK services. For hopeful patients seeking clear vision, that’s a significant draw and a compelling reason to choose a CareFirst plan. Aetna also offers a competitive 15 percent discount.
Many individuals with these plans chose them because of the price breaks for LASIK. What does that mean for your practice? You should to accept these plans.
Patients with these policies want LASIK. Accepting these insurance discounts helps you add more patients to your roster, changing lives and growing your business.
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CareCredit
Healthcare costs present substantial financial burdens to many Americans and their families. Recent research from Peterson-KFF found that U.S. patients owe roughly $220 billion in medical debt, with 14 million (6 percent) owing at least $1,000 and about 3 million owing at least $10,000.
Because of these numbers, many Americans utilize healthcare-specific credit cards like CareCredit. The card covers services and procedures covered by insurance and elective procedures, like LASIK.
According to CareCredit, over 12.4 million individuals use the card to access the care and procedures they want and need. Accepting CareCredit as a form of payment at your LASIK center helps you tap into an audience that relies on this card to pay for various healthcare costs.
If a patient is already a cardholder, and if your office already accepts CareCredit, that removes an obstacle to scheduling their surgery. They have a payment method that is convenient for them, although the patient’s APR may be as high as 29.99%. Accept it, and book their consultation!
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Revolving Credit Cards
Some patients opt for traditional credit cards to cover their healthcare costs. This allows patients to proceed with their surgery without paying the total upfront.
While credit cards are a reasonable option for some consumers, some individuals wanting and needing LASIK might have poor or no credit. These patients either don’t have access to revolving credit, their credit limits are too low to cover the cost of LASIK, or they might simply want different payment options to avoid the hassle and expense of a revolving credit card.
LASIK surgery centers should (and likely do) accept credit cards as payment. However, credit cards aren’t ideal for many patients seeking your services. If a patient charges the full amount to their revolving credit card, $3,000 for example, with a 32.99% APR, and if they pay $100 each month, it would take 4 years and 9 months to pay off the balance, with a total of $2,612.01 in interest. Providing accessible alternatives is important to broadening your patient pool and scheduling more LASIK surgeries, but it might be at the expense of your patients.
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Flexible Payment through Consumer Financing
LASIK surgery improves lives. Surgeons and their teams want to make this procedure affordable and accessible to as many individuals as possible. Consumer financing is the ideal solution for flexible payment methods for your LASIK surgery center.
Consumer financing addresses many issues associated with patient credit cards or constrained savings and checking accounts. Partnering with a financing firm like United Consumer Financial Services allows you to offer realistic, low monthly payments to eager patients ready for a change.
For patient financing to work, it needs to be straightforward. UCFS makes financing the logical choice for your LASIK patients. For starters, the application is simple. Patients apply for financing in your office or from the comfort of their home. The online credit application takes about 3-4 minutes to complete. We send a credit decision notice almost immediately. Once approved, the patient eSigns their repayment agreement on their phone or an office tablet.
UCFS ensures there are no surprises for your practice or patients. Unlike revolving credit cards with variable rates or super high APRs with very low minimum payments (which can take more than ten years to pay off), UCFS maintains consistent rates with reasonable repayment timelines. With revolving credit, interest accumulation can be astronomical. But with consumer financing from UCFS, patients can more easily afford low monthly payment amounts alongside their typical monthly spending.
Consumer financing is the flexible payment solution LASIK patients want and need. By offering financing through UCFS, you empower patients to schedule surgeries and change their lives for the better.
Grow Your LASIK Surgery Center with UCFS
Booking more surgeries means improving patients’ quality of life and growing your business. By accepting various payment methods, including those that specifically cater to LASIK patients, you make surgery affordable and accessible.
United Consumer Financial Services has spent the last 40 years serving our clients, providing them with the solutions and support to deliver financing options to their customers. When you partner with UCFS, you position your patients (and business) for success.
Consumer financing helps you increase patient volume, perform more life-changing LASIK procedures, and grow your business. Reach out today to learn how to become a merchant with UCFS and reap the many benefits of offering consumer financing at your LASIK surgery center.