How fees work

A routine eye exam is billed to a vision plan. A visit for an eye problem, an eye disease check or a follow-up, such as a diabetic eye exam or glaucoma monitoring, is billed to medical insurance. Many visits mix both, and the office explains which part goes where. Medicare does not cover routine eye exams or glasses, with narrow exceptions.

Self-pay covers the exam and the services you ask for. Fitting fees, premium lens options and coatings, and replacement lenses are billed separately. We explain what each part involves before you decide, and a figure given over the phone is never a promise. If cost is a worry, tell the office and we will say what we can do.

Ask for an itemized receipt and send it to your plan. The plan decides what it reimburses.

If you pay without insurance, we give you a written Good Faith Estimate before your visit. Ask when you book. If a bill comes to $400 or more above your estimate, you can dispute it, and we will tell you how.

Before your visit we check your benefits where we can and tell you what we find. Please confirm with your plan too, because the plan has the final say.

A first visit takes about an hour, a little longer when your eyes are dilated. It is billed as above, and anything you pay yourself is agreed in writing first.