How fees work
Most of what we bill depends on your plan and on the kind of visit. Here is how we work it out with you.
Insurance we work with
A routine eye exam is billed to your vision plan. A visit for an eye problem, an eye disease check or a follow-up is billed to medical insurance. Many visits include both, and the office explains which part goes where before you pay. Medicare does not cover routine exams or glasses, with narrow exceptions.
Vision plans, for routine exams, glasses and contact lenses
Medical insurance plans, for eye health visits and follow-ups
Medicare, within its limits for eye care
If you pay yourself
If you pay yourself, the exam and each service you ask for are billed to you. Contact lens fittings, lens upgrades and replacement lenses are billed separately. We can't promise a price over the phone, so we tell you what each part costs before you decide.
The exam
Contact lens fitting and follow-up
Lenses and coatings
Receipts for reimbursement
Ask for an itemized receipt and send it to your plan. The plan decides what it reimburses.
An estimate in advance
If you pay without insurance, you have the right to a Good Faith Estimate of what your visit will cost. Ask for it in writing when you book, and we give it to you before your visit. If a bill is $400 or more above your estimate, you can dispute it.
Checking your benefits
Before your visit we check your benefits where we can and tell you what we find. Please confirm with your plan as well, because the plan has the final say.
What the first visit includes
A first visit takes about an hour. It covers your history, measurements, vision and focus tests and an eye health check. The exam is billed as above, and anything you pay yourself is agreed with you first.
Your prescription is yours
However you pay, we give you a copy of your glasses prescription after your exam and a copy of your contact lens prescription when your fitting is complete. You can fill them here or anywhere else.
If you are unsure which plan covers a visit, ask the front desk before you come. We would rather explain it first than surprise you afterward.
Questions about a bill?
Call the front desk and Katherine will walk through it with you.