Most insurance companies in the United States will not cover LASIK eye surgery, since it is considered an elective procedure. LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) eye surgery is a medical procedure intended to reduce a person's dependency on glasses or contact lenses. Using an excimer laser, LASIK eye surgery permanently alters the shape of the patient's cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye. A knife, called a microkeratome, is used to cut a small flap in the cornea. A hinge is left to remain at one end of this flap. The flap is folded back revealing the stroma, the middlesection of the cornea. Pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced, reshaping the cornea to change its focusing power, completing the eye surgery procedure.

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