Save money on vision care and eye exams with these tips.
Vision care and eye exams may be necessary for your health, but this field of health care can be riddled with scams and excessive costs. Use these advanced tactics to get the most out of your vision care dollar.
Avoid These Vision Care Scams
Tests you don’t need.
Routine eye exams are suggested more often for children, seniors, or those with ongoing medical issues that can impact the eye. Those without a problem or risk factor do not need routine eye exams until age 40.
Unnecessary glaucoma tests.
If you do not have glaucoma risk factors you do not need a glaucoma test every year. The suggested interval is 5-10 years up until age 40. After age 40 it is suggested every 1-3 years. Some optometrists will insist on giving patients one every single year. There is an incentive to overuse this test when they can bill vision insurance for it.
Unnecessary eye dilation tests.
If you do not have health risk factors and are under 40 you probably don’t need this test. As with other eye testing, the interval goes up as you get older and if you have related health problems. Eye dilation can cause some severe reactions. Headaches, nausea, vomiting, eye pain, blurred vision, and light sensitivity. These side effects can last 2-6 hours. It is also suggested people not drive until the side effects have subsided. Some optometrists routinely spring this test on patients at appointments and then send them on their way to try to drive themselves home with impaired vision.
High-pressure tactics.
Aggressive sales tactics are used to compel patients to submit to expensive tests. Expensive tests, not covered by vision insurance, where the doctor can’t clearly explain a medical urgency should be a red flag to say no to that test. One vision clinic was offering a new computerized “vision test” to every single patient for an additional $360. The test was not covered by insurance and they wanted it paid upfront.
This test was given a hard sell by the front office staff. They then required patients to sign a form if they declined to have this unnecessary test. The requirement of a patient to sign a form declining the test is a type of sales pressure tactic to make you feel like you are rejecting something you need. Politely decline and consider finding a new optometrist for future visits.
Overtreating astigmatism.
Some unethical doctors over-prescribe astigmatism contacts for patients that don’t really need that type of correction. Astigmatism contacts cost significantly more than regular contacts. If they are also selling those contacts or get a percentage of the sales from the dispensing facility they have a financial motivation to over-prescribe the higher-priced option. Astigmatism contacts can cause headaches and eye strain in some people. Using them if they are not necessary, may be causing unnecessary physical pain.
Prescription & Monetary Scams
Pay me now.
Demanding full payment up front, but the clinic is in network for your vision insurance. Out-of-network clinics may require you to pay upfront for your visit in full, then ask you to seek reimbursement from your vision insurance. In-network clinics are usually bound by insurance participation rules where they can’t do this. A clinic can request payment of your out-of-pocket portion at the time of the visit, they can’t refuse to process your insurance claim.
If you run into this demand, you may want to consider ending the appointment rather than complying. You should also inform your vision insurance. We found one clinic routinely attempted this scam, but only with female patients. The optometrist in question had a previous vision clinic raided by the authorities for Medicare fraud.
Holding your prescription hostage.
This is illegal. The FTC has weighed in on this issue multiple times. An optometrist must give you a printed copy of your prescription after your eye exam or contact lens fitting. They can not charge you an additional fee to receive a copy. When booking an eye exam ask if they will give you a printed copy of your prescription at the end of that visit. If they say anything other than yes, go elsewhere.
A questionable tactic some optometrists are using to get around this is to give a patient a sample pair of contacts and tell them to let them know after a few weeks if the contacts work properly. Most ethical optometrists will either give you your prescription at the end of the appointment or provide it after you call back to confirm the contact prescription is correct.
Unethical optometrists are springing another previously undisclosed mandatory appointment on patients when they try to obtain their contact lens prescription. This mandatory follow-up exam, even when your new contacts work fine, is not covered by insurance and can cost upwards of $50 or more. If you don’t pay it they won’t give you your prescription.
If you run into this scam, inform the clinic you will be contacting your vision insurance, the state consumer affairs office, and the FTC. If they still refuse to provide your prescription, follow through on the threat. In the incident we reviewed, the vision insurance compelled the provider to give the written prescription without a second exam.
Refusing to give you your pupillary distance. Some opticians will refuse to include your pupillary distance on your prescription in the hopes of forcing you to buy glasses through them. You can determine your pupillary distance at home using this tool from Zenni. Some online glasses stores can also determine it for you using a photograph of your face with a credit card, just make sure the card numbers are not visible.
High-pressure sales tactics
Vision clinics have a significant markup on glasses and contacts. These sales can make up over half of their business. That friendly optician is probably receiving a commission on your purchase. We have seen clinics require patients to sign a form declining unnecessary add-ons to their glasses purchase such as extra coatings or tints. They don’t NEED you to decline an optional product. This is a high-pressure sales tactic to make you think you need that add-on.
Designer frames
All of those brand name or designer frames likely came from one company. EssilorLuxottica owns a number of mall optical stores and supplies just about all of the designer frames seen at optician offices. Their markups on these frames and finished lenses are sometimes 1000%. An industry insider admitted that the better quality glasses from China are the same quality you would get with these designer frames sold in the US. This one company monopoly is why even non-designer frames in most US optician and mall eyewear stores are so expensive. Those spendy designer frames were also probably made in China.
Obscenely marked-up prices.
The one company dominance in frames and within the vision industry means the retail price of a pair of glasses is far beyond the actual cost. The average retail cost of a pair of frames is $231, lenses average $112. The actual cost of a pair of acetate frames is about $10. The LA Times asked a US eyewear industry trade group about this. They refused to issue any comment.
The only trade group that responded to the LA Times was a state-level trade group that claimed their products are special and of better quality without offering any sort of evidence to back up their claims.
The vision insurance you purchase so you can afford a new pair of glasses is largely going to pay these obscene markups. EssilorLuxottica also owns EyeMed, one of the larger vision insurance plans in the US. So you can pay them for insurance to get a discount on their 1000% markup eyeglasses, which they own a virtual monopoly on. Think about this. Take all the time you need.
Do you really need prescription glasses?
Many people do need the type of correction provided by prescription glasses. Some can do just fine with a pair of off-the-shelf reading glasses or “driving glasses” aka: myopia glasses. Reading glasses may help for up-close tasks. Myopia glasses may help with driving or reading a computer screen. Reading glasses have varying price points and quality. A low-cost basic pair can be found at most drug stores. Myopia glasses typically need to be ordered online and follow the same price point and quality variations of reading glasses.
Read all of our tips for saving money on glasses here
Read all of our tips for saving money on contacts here