“Will my insurance cover dry eye treatment?”

Unfortunately, in the UK, it’s mostly no.

Most private medical insurance providers will not cover the cost of treatment of a chronic condition. If a treatment will be ongoing, or likely to need repeating, it doesn’t qualify for cover. This applies to dry eye treatments like LipiFlow, IPL or meibomian gland probing.

Insurance providers, however, will often cover an initial consultation. It’s worth checking with them, as there’s always a benefit to having a comprehensive assessment; and symptoms can be managed to some degree with pharmaceutical treatments.

They will also usually cover treatment of acute complications of dry eye, such as removal of a chalazion or treatment for corneal damage.