Patient Center

Insurance

The cost of routine eye exams and prescription eyewear can be of real concern, especially for large families. In many cases, vision insurance can lower these annual expenses.

A vision insurance policy is not the same as health insurance. Regular health insurance plans protect you against financial losses due to unexpected eye injuries or disease. Vision insurance, on the other hand, is a wellness benefit designed to provide routine eye care,prescription eyewear and other vision-related services at a reduced cost.

Because we provide both medical and routine eye care, we accept a number of insurance plans to help cover the cost depending on your individual needs.

Medical Plans we accept

We accept almost all major medical insurance plans, including Medicare.

Vision Plans we accept

VSP, VCP, Eyemed, Superior, NVA, Spectera and others.

We do accept other plans as well, so if you do not see your plan listed here, please give us a call and we would be happy to assist you. Our staff is also always available to answer any questions regarding your benefits.

Vision insurance, Health Insurance, and Eye Care: A summary of how your benefits can be used for your exam at Louisville Eye Center.

Many of our patients have vision insurance, health insurance, or both. What’s the difference, and when do they come into play for eye care?

Insurance companies have divided eye care into two distinct areas: vision care and medical eye care. Let’s look at these individually:

1. Vision care involves updating glasses or contact lenses. It covers conditions such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), presbyopia (“my arms are too short!”), and astigmatism.
2. Medical eye care involves a wide range of eye conditions. Some of these are not thought of as “diseases” in a traditional sense. Examples of these milder conditions are eye allergies and dry eyes. Medical eye care also covers more significant conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, eye injuries, or infections. The list goes on and on!

So vision insurance covers glasses and contacts, and health insurance covers eye “diseases.” Simple, right? Actually, here’s where it gets tricky. Many medical eye conditions can cause vision changes that are corrected by glasses or contacts. For example, cataracts can cause a change in your glasses prescription before they progress to the point of needing surgery. So a medical eye condition (cataracts) may be addressed with vision correction (glasses).

As you can see, the division between vision care and medical eye care is not always clear. Your doctor is professionally obligated to assign responsibility to your insurance company based on the primary cause of your eye problems, or the primary diagnosis that they detect. Of course, we are happy to work with you to keep copayments low and maximize your insurance benefits. However, this must be done within the framework of insurance billing regulations.

One more point to consider- what if you only have health insurance but no vision insurance? If you have previously been diagnosed with a medical eye condition (or suspect you may have one), your health insurance may pay for a medically necessary visit. If this describes you, ask us to help you understand your benefits.

Note: This summary is for educational purposes only and is not meant to be an official explanation of your insurance benefits. If you have questions regarding your insurance coverage, we encourage you to contact your insurance company directly.