Medicare – Is Laser Eye Surgery Covered?

Sadly, laser eye surgery is not covered by Medicare. Laser eye surgery is considered a cosmetic procedure and therefore; not covered under any Medicare scheme.  But there are a few health funds that assist in the costs of laser eye surgery and there is also 0% finance for eligible applicants! Let us teach you a little more about understanding the Medicare system and how it all works.

If you are covered by a health fund that is not listed above, the likelihood is that there are no benefits towards laser eye surgery within your policy.  However; we always recommend contacting your health fund or reading your policy details to confirm this.  Health funds change regularly and add inclusions dependent on demand regularly.  If you are aware of any participating health funds that are not listed above, we would love for you to update us.

What is a Medicare ‘item number’?

Health funds will often ask for an ‘item number’ if you are contacting them to check if you have cover for laser eye surgery.  An item number is a unique number that is allocated to a professional service listed on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). The MBS is a key component of the Medicare system.  Laser eye surgery is considered a cosmetic procedure and is therefore; not covered by Medicare.  This means that there is not an item number attached to the procedure.

What services does the MBS include?

The types of services on the MBS include consultation and procedural/therapeutic (including surgical) services, as well as diagnostic services.

Wait times for newly acquired private health plans

If you are starting a new policy that includes laser eye surgery within their benefits, please note that there will be a wait time before you are able to access this. Having a waiting period like this helps to stop people making a claim and then dropping their cover.

0% Finance options up to 2 years!

Laser eye surgery is an expensive outgoing and for this reason, we offer 0% finance for up to two years to help spread the cost.  This means that you can benefit from SMILE, LASIK or PRK laser eye surgery for less than $62 per week!  Insight Eye Clinic has 2 highly equipped specialist locations in Western Australia.  This allows us to offer our premium services to a large demographic of people looking to benefit from the experience and technology advancements that we provide.  They are based in Subiaco Square, opposite the train station and Westminster.

Is there a medical expenses tax offset?

There was previously an option to offset your medical expenses at tax time but this was phased out in the 2018 – 2019 tax year.

HCF Eyecare Policy wait time

I spoke to several staff members at HCF, all who could not tell us what the wait time was for their eyecare policy. Upon speaking with 4 different staff members, none of them were aware that this service existed.  So I will continue to list it above as it is on their website under terms and conditions, but I do not recommend seeking out a policy with HCF if you wish to receive this benefit.

I have added previously written blog posts below that might be of interest to you during your research and whilst on your quest for spectacle and contact lens independence.

*HBF is listed above as they previously offered full cover under their Ultimate policy but that was discontinued in approximately 2018*.  Also, this is a very popular fund and we are certain many members reading this post are curious.