Getting a laser vision correction procedure such as LASIK is not a rash decision to make, neither medically nor financially. However, with some smart choices and taking advantage of your financial account access, you can make the burden more cushiony for yourself.

If you have access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), you can use them to finance Pay for your Lasik eye surgery. Doing so will allow you to pay through pre-tax dollars, amounting to a discount of about 20-30% discount.

HSA to Pay for Lasik Eye Surgery

When you open an HSA account, you are eligible for saving pre-tax dollars from your payroll by way of payment deductions. These deductions are added to your HSA account to pay for eligible medical expenses such as Lasik eye surgery. However, to be eligible for an HSA account, you have to be enrolled in a high-deductible health care policy.

According to IRS’ revised policy for the tax year 2021, you can set aside the following amounts in an HSA account:

  • Individual – $3,600
  • Family – $7,200

IRS also has limits for the amount of money that can be withdrawn in one go to pay for medical procedures. You can use HSA to pay for Lasik because the cost falls under the withdrawal limit set by IRS.
Leveraging your HSA to pay for Lasik is a wise choice since it is ultimately your own pre-tax money set aside in a bank account. However, if you have other options to pay for your Lasik, you can use them before HSA since this saving can be accumulated for as long as your want for more expensive procedures.

FSA to Pay for Lasik Eye Surgery

Much like HSA, FSA is also a bank account that allows you to set aside pre-tax money from your payroll to pay for eligible unforeseen expenses. You have the autonomy to decide how much money you want to set aside annually and spread the savings throughout the year. According to the 2021 revised policy by IRS, the maximum FSA savings one can have is $2,750.
One of the best things about FSA is that even if you have not made all your annual contributions yet, you can access the entire amount you have elected to save annually. Therefore, you can have access to money even before you have earned and saved it.

Just like HSA, FSA has restrictions levied on it by IRS regarding the things covered by the funds. But since Lasik is eligible, you can use FSA to Pay for Lasik eye surgery.
When you use FSA to pay for Lasik eye surgery, you save a lot of money and tension. This is because, firstly, you do not set aside any money consciously for your unforeseen expenses. Secondly, you can access even the money you have not saved yet. Thirdly, since all the saved money is pre-tax dollars, you get a significant discount.

Whether you use an HSA for an FSA to pay for Lasik eye surgery, you are sure to reap a lot of benefits. These accounts allow you to plan wisely to cover medical procedures like these so that you do not feel your health financially burdening you.

About Dr. Columbus

Dr. Bill, as he is affectionately known, is the founder and surgical director at Columbus LASIK Vision. He received his Bachelor’s Degree at Scranton University and his medical degree at Penn State University Medical Center where he also performed his internal medicine internship. He then spent three years at Nassau County Medical Center training in Ophthalmology. Shortly after finishing at Nassau county, he began his cornea and refractive fellowship at the prestigious Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. Dr. Columbus has demonstrated his commitment to excellence with over 25,000 corrective eye procedures.