The procedure you are discribing sounds identical to cataract surgery, which I had on both eyes at the age of twenty. When I had it done the artificial lens put in was stiff, actually causing me to have presbyopia. Within just a few years though, a new flexible lens had been developed. My cousin and uncle have these lenses and have loved them.
So, you are right, surgery is for if your natural lens really is shot. At the same time, the surgery was a simple out patient surgery. And since the artificial lens they put in is custom made to your eye, they also fix any near sightedness or far sightedness at the same time. I know a lot of people that have lasik done, even multiple times. It is a little more evasive then lasik, but not much.