Why is there a fee for contacting fitting?

[Sadie22]

I work at an optometrist's office. The reason there is a seperate charge for a contact lens fitting is that a contact lens fitting is not part of a routine eye exam. Not every person wears contact lenses. Most insurance companies do not pay for a contact lens fitting as contacts are considered cosmetic.

And a fitting must be done and charged each year in most states as it is a state law. The shape of your eye can change as well as the prescription, so it is really beneficial to the patient to have a new fitting each year.

I know it's a pain to pay that each year even if there's no change with the brand or size of the lenses, but it must be done!

Not only may the shape of the eye change and the prescription change, but the patient may have undiagnosed infection, ocular surface disease, dry eye, or other problems. The optometrist must make absolutely sure there are no problems before allowing a patient to continue wearing contact lenses. A referral to an ophthalmologist for treatment may be necessary.

An annual exam for contact "fitting" is not routine and is not just "fitting." If the provider is not providing a thorough exam, find another provider. Your vision may depend on it.

 

[dolfinjuls]

Not only may the shape of the eye change and the prescription change, but the patient may have undiagnosed infection, ocular surface disease, dry eye, or other problems. The optometrist must make absolutely sure there are no problems before allowing a patient to continue wearing contact lenses. A referral to an ophthalmologist for treatment may be necessary.

An annual exam for contact "fitting" is not routine and is not just "fitting." If the provider is not providing a thorough exam, find another provider. Your vision may depend on it.

That is all very true too! I was giving a very basic explaination! Overall eye health should be determined clear before starting a contact lens examination. We find that is not the case a lot in our office and that's really scary!

 

[LisaNJ25]

I have noticed that recently also... I think its around $40 here, insane since I have been wearing the same contacts for 10 years now. Overall I have been wearing contacts for 23 years and this past year was the first with a fitting fee. I was told that they used to bill insurance for it and they weren't reimbursing.. so now they are charging co-pay and the fitting fee.

I go to one eye dr for my contacts and a different one for my glasses.. since I have converage with VSP and BCBS.

 

[vacamomma]

Routine eye exams are for an eyeglass prescription only. In most cases contacts are not medically necessary so they are considered a cosmetic enhancement. Contact fitting fees are normally only covered if its medically necessary. Fitting fees also vary by location, to get the most bang for your buck try Sam's club the fitting fees are normally only $25 to $35 depending on the doctor and they have the lowest contact lens prices around even cheaper than 1-800 Contacts and they will ship the order to your house for free

 

[IDoDis]

Never paid a fitting fee here, either. Insurance covers the eye exam once a year which includes the fitting. Insurance also pays $80 towards the lenses or a pair of frames.

 

[mamalle]

pay one every year besides my copay for the annual exam. They took it out of my $200 allowance for contacts.. I ended up getting a bill for $85 which included my $30 copay and fitting. Just sent in my $50 rebate for the contacts.. Not bad for the year at all.. Next year I may get some new frames I could of this year but mine are fine. We can pick frames every 2 years up to $250 and the lens or contacts yearly.

 

[SILLYANDI]

I have a good one for you. I took my 12 year old daughter to an opthamologist for headaches/words moving on her paper (referred by MEDICAL insurance not vision insurance). We had seen an optomatrist the week before and he felt she needed a comprehensive exam to rule out something more serious, even though he felt it was a visual processing issue more then a "vision" problem.
They did the exam and gave me the results for my copay. They wanted a $65 "release" fee for them to write me a scrip for her glasses to take it to Sams and get it filled. Not kidding, they actually held the prescription hostage until I paid them the additional fee because I was not buying the glasses from them.
I told them they could keep the scrip and took the results forms to the optomatrist in Sam's and he translated it onto his own scrip and filled the glassses order for me at no additional cost. He was visibly angry that a doctor would try to take advantage of a patient like that.

 

[taximomfor4]

Not only may the shape of the eye change and the prescription change, but the patient may have undiagnosed infection, ocular surface disease, dry eye, or other problems. The optometrist must make absolutely sure there are no problems before allowing a patient to continue wearing contact lenses. A referral to an ophthalmologist for treatment may be necessary.

An annual exam for contact "fitting" is not routine and is not just "fitting." If the provider is not providing a thorough exam, find another provider. Your vision may depend on it.

I do have issues with the comfort of contacts. Have heard it's dry eyes (why I also am not a good candidate for surgery), and that it's allergies so excess protein depositing on the lenses. Therefore I barely wear contacts. They in general are not comfortable for me.

 

[luvmy3]

I have a good one for you. I took my 12 year old daughter to an opthamologist for headaches/words moving on her paper (referred by MEDICAL insurance not vision insurance). We had seen an optomatrist the week before and he felt she needed a comprehensive exam to rule out something more serious, even though he felt it was a visual processing issue more then a "vision" problem.
They did the exam and gave me the results for my copay. They wanted a $65 "release" fee for them to write me a scrip for her glasses to take it to Sams and get it filled. Not kidding, they actually held the prescription hostage until I paid them the additional fee because I was not buying the glasses from them.
I told them they could keep the scrip and took the results forms to the optomatrist in Sam's and he translated it onto his own scrip and filled the glassses order for me at no additional cost. He was visibly angry that a doctor would try to take advantage of a patient like that.

Wow, thats crazy. Even when I worked at Empire Vision, where the goal was to get you to spend money in the store after your exam, we weren't able to keep your presription from you, or charge you extra to give it to you.

 

[LaDonna]

I normally just go to the eye doc every other year, I suppose when I get a lil' older I'll start going every year, but for now I guess I'm taking my chances, I've never had problems with my eyes. So I actually take my contact script and get it filled right before it expires(which is 1 yr) so what I buys lasts me for another year. I normally get mine filled at BJs it is the cheapest around for Acuvue 2 at $13.98 a box! What i get dissapointed with is not having my insurance cover some of my glasses if I want to get both, but oh well I barely wear them anyways, maybe an hour a day, but my son has sat on them and I really should replace them, they looked all jacked up

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I have a good one for you. I took my 12 year old daughter to an opthamologist for headaches/words moving on her paper (referred by MEDICAL insurance not vision insurance). We had seen an optomatrist the week before and he felt she needed a comprehensive exam to rule out something more serious, even though he felt it was a visual processing issue more then a "vision" problem.
They did the exam and gave me the results for my copay. They wanted a $65 "release" fee for them to write me a scrip for her glasses to take it to Sams and get it filled. Not kidding, they actually held the prescription hostage until I paid them the additional fee because I was not buying the glasses from them.
I told them they could keep the scrip and took the results forms to the optomatrist in Sam's and he translated it onto his own scrip and filled the glassses order for me at no additional cost. He was visibly angry that a doctor would try to take advantage of a patient like that.

I have never had an eye doctor hold my script hostage (I don't think that is even legal) but I have had them hold my pupilary distance hostage so I couldn't order glasses online.

My insurance will only cover contacts or glasses, not both, so I wanted to order some cheap glasses from zenni optical. Doctors office wouldn't give it up but fortunately I had ordered glasses from Costco once and they had it on file still; they had no problem giving it to me.

 

[GinnyEmma]

walmart wrote out everything i needed for zenni. i don't usually tout superstores, but they were really really helpful in this instance.