How to Finance LASIK When Insurance Won't Cover It: Medical Loans, Payment Plans, and the Colombia Math

The Financing Trap Nobody Talks About

Vision insurance almost never covers LASIK. It is classified as an elective procedure by virtually every insurer in the United States. That means the $4,000 to $6,000 sticker price for both eyes at a US clinic lands squarely on your shoulders — and the first thing most clinics will point you toward is a financing plan.

CareCredit, Alphaeon, Prosper Healthcare Lending, LendingClub Patient Solutions — the branded medical-financing options are everywhere. They all work roughly the same way: apply for a credit line, get approved (often with a soft pull), and pay over 12 to 60 months. Many advertise "0% APR for 12 months" or "no interest if paid in full within 24 months."

The fine print is where it gets expensive.

How 0% APR Becomes 26.99% APR

Most medical financing offers are deferred-interest plans, not true 0% APR. The distinction is critical.

A true 0% APR plan means you pay no interest during the promotional period, period. If you pay off the balance in 12 months, you paid zero interest. If you have $500 remaining at month 12, you pay interest only on that $500 going forward.

A deferred-interest plan means interest accrues from day one but is not charged unless you fail to pay the entire balance by the end of the promotional period. If you have even $1 remaining at month 12, the full retroactive interest — typically 26.99% APR on the original balance from day one — is added to your account. On a $5,000 LASIK procedure, that retroactive interest hit can exceed $1,300.

CareCredit's standard healthcare card uses deferred-interest promotional financing. It is the most common medical financing product in the United States, and it is the one most patients misunderstand. This is not a knock on CareCredit specifically — it is how deferred-interest credit works across the industry.

Your Actual Financing Options, Ranked

If you have decided to get LASIK in the US and need to finance it, here are your options from least-costly to most-costly:

HSA or FSA funds. If your employer offers a Health Savings Account (with a high-deductible health plan) or a Flexible Spending Account, LASIK is an eligible expense. You are paying with pre-tax dollars, which effectively gives you a discount equal to your marginal tax rate — typically 22–32% for most patients. If you have $3,000 in your HSA, that covers most or all of a Colombia LASIK trip in pre-tax dollars. Even for US-priced LASIK, this is the cheapest money available.

Personal savings. No interest, no risk, no fine print. If you can save $200 to $300 per month, you reach Colombia LASIK pricing in 9 to 14 months.

True 0% APR credit card. Some credit cards offer genuine 0% APR (not deferred interest) on new purchases for 12 to 21 months. If you already have one, using it to pay for LASIK — and paying it off during the promotional period — costs you nothing in interest. Read the terms carefully to confirm it is true 0% APR, not deferred interest.

Medical-specific financing (CareCredit, Alphaeon, Prosper). Usable if you understand the deferred-interest structure and are confident you will pay the full balance within the promotional window. If there is any chance you will not, the retroactive interest makes this one of the most expensive options available.

Personal loan. Banks, credit unions, and online lenders (SoFi, LightStream, Upgrade) offer fixed-rate personal loans for medical expenses. Rates in 2026 range from roughly 7% to 18% depending on credit score. The advantage: the rate is fixed and transparent. The disadvantage: you are paying interest from day one.

Clinic payment plan. Some US LASIK clinics offer in-house payment plans. Terms vary widely. Read the agreement carefully — some are interest-free, some are not, and some include fees that function as interest under a different name.

The Colombia Math

Here is the part of the financing conversation that US clinics will not bring up: for many patients, the cheapest way to finance LASIK is to not finance it at all — by having the procedure in a country where the cash price is lower than the interest you would pay on a US financing plan.

A standard femtosecond LASIK procedure in Medellín or Bogotá, using the same Alcon or Zeiss platforms found in US clinics, costs $1,200 to $2,200 for both eyes. A five-to-seven-day trip — including flights, accommodation, meals, and the procedure — typically runs $2,500 to $4,000 all-in.

Compare that to $5,000 US LASIK financed through CareCredit at 26.99% APR over 24 months: you are paying roughly $6,350 total. The Colombia trip, paid in cash, saves you $2,350 to $3,850 — and you avoid the credit inquiry, the monthly payments, and the risk of a retroactive interest bomb.

If you are able to save $300 per month, you reach the Colombia cash price in eight to nine months. You would need 17 to 21 months of saving at the same rate to cover US pricing — during which time you are still paying for glasses or contacts, still dealing with the daily inconvenience, and still losing the present value of clear vision.

HSA + Colombia: The Optimal Play

LASIK performed outside the United States is still an eligible HSA and FSA expense, provided the surgeon is a licensed medical professional and the procedure meets IRS guidelines for medical care. The location of the procedure does not disqualify it.

That means you can use pre-tax HSA dollars to pay for LASIK in Colombia. If your marginal federal tax rate is 24% and you are in a state with income tax, you are effectively getting a 28–35% discount on top of the already-lower Colombia pricing.

A $2,000 LASIK procedure paid with HSA funds at a 30% effective tax saving costs you $1,400 in after-tax terms. That is less than four months of daily-wear contact lenses for many patients.

Keep your itemized receipt from the clinic, and ask for it in English. Colombian refractive clinics that serve international patients routinely provide English-language receipts formatted for US tax and insurance documentation purposes.