Yeah, I have heard that as well. Tattoo laser removal definitely isn't something you'd want to do, I'd say it's one of the absolute last things you'd wanna do, actually. From what I've heard (no direct experience), the pain of the laser just doesn't compare to tattoo pain as it's on a whole 'nother level, it takes multiple sessions for the tattoo to really fade and because of how incredibly tough it is on your skin you need an interval of at least one month in-between sessions. That, and the thousands of dollars it can add up to...
My artist told me that she has advised customers to get one or two laser sessions done before cover-ups only a very few handful of times because of all the above cons to lasering, and even with them she suggested no more than one or two sessions just to extremely dark tattoos to lighten the slightest bit so it would be easier to then cover up - to get tattoo lines to fade "wholly" not infrequently takes years and like others already said, would still be visible anyway. 😅