Going to the hospital to see a doctor, most people are most concerned about the cost of seeing a doctor, in addition to the condition. Overall, surgery is the most expensive major item. Although cataract surgery is considered a “minor surgery”, many people still feel that the overall cost is very high. Is cataract surgery really expensive in China?

Friends who have learned about cataracts may know that conventional monofocal intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery are divided into two categories:

1. Aspheric intraocular lens: The total cost of surgery is about seven or eight thousand.

2. Spherical intraocular lens: the total cost of surgery is about five or six thousand,

(Due to different medical conditions in different places, the data is for reference only)

In my country, the cost of cataract surgery is set very low, generally around 1,500-2,000 yuan, and the bulk of the expenditure comes from the price of intraocular lenses (2,000-24,000 yuan) and the equipment, viscoelastic, scalpels, and other consumables Therefore used in the operation. Now in the era of universal medical insurance, if many patients choose the basic spherical intraocular lens, the medical insurance reimbursement amount can cover most of the surgical expenses. Therefore, in many grass-roots areas, there are many private and public hospitals. Under the coverage of medical insurance, they can provide free cataract surgery for patients, so we don’t need to envy the so-called free medical care in some developed countries. In the field of cataract blindness prevention, our country may do better.

Of course, if you choose an aspheric intraocular lens or even a more powerful multifocal/astigmatic intraocular lens, because the national medical insurance is reimbursed by a fixed amount, and the excess is paid for by yourself, then your cost will increase with the price of the intraocular lens.

In the field of medical device consumables, an intraocular lens is also a relatively expensive consumable. The price of intraocular lenses in the world is similar. For example, the price of intraocular lenses in my country is 6,000 yuan, and the price in the United States is about 1,000 US dollars. How much does it cost to perform cataract surgery abroad?

In the United States, the total cost of cataract (surgery) for a single eye is 24,000 to 40,000 US dollars, of which intraocular lenses and equipment consumables only account for a small part, most of the cost is the doctor’s surgery fee, and the price difference mainly depends on the doctor. Because the prices of their different doctors vary greatly;

In Japan, for cataract surgery on one eye, the hospital deposit is 120,000 yuan, about 3.6 million yen for two eyes, and about 110,000 yuan for one eye. Similarly, most of the cost is the doctor’s surgery. fee;

In Hong Kong, China, cataract surgery in one eye requires about HK$50,000 with conventional lenses.

So from this point of view, our cataract surgery is not only inexpensive, but also very cheap, and in the era of universal medical insurance, if you are willing to use the basic intraocular lens, then free medical care in the field of cataracts has almost been realized. We don’t have to envy developed countries. Our medical insurance environment in the field of cataracts is better than in developed countries.

In the next issue, I will use the case of multinational patients to talk about the differences in cataract surgery between China and the United States.