My eye doctor stopped taking my insurance and I wasn’t told until I went to my appointment ughhhhh

I can't even imagine being in a country where you go to get something done and then have to work out how the hell you're going to pay for it. It applies to Brits abroad in Europe too if we don't buy travel insurance (which so many people seem to not do and it's quite frankly insane).

In England we have the NHS for most needs and don't have to pay anything for treatment. That's not a brag, we pay tax and national insurance which fund the NHS and it's not a perfect system either. It's overrun and there's an argument between whether it's underfunded or simply wastes a whole load of money. Probably a bit of both. There can be long waiting lists for certain treatments and long waiting times in emergency care.

If we go private via health insurance they require authorisation up front. So your insurer will have already confirmed what you are entitled to before treatment begins. That way there are no hidden surprises unless your chosen hospital decides to provide a treatment that you weren't authorised for, but then they wouldn't do that because they'd fear not getting paid.

So overall there is no likelihood of turning up for treatment and then worrying about an unexpected bill.

I hate that procedure

Sorry, you need to find a new eye doctor.