Insurance

Why Do You Need My Medical Insurance?

Like any doctor, we bill medical insurance for medical (in our case, eye) problems. Routine vision plans are meant to be used for routine health exams only. We collect both cards when you become our patient so that if you have a medical condition, we already have that information. This makes your life easier if you end up having a medical eye condition or you need our assistance with an eye emergency at a later date. In addition, some medical plans and vision plans are linked, and we must have your medical insurance information in order to find your vision plan information.

I Paid In Full When I Was There, So Why Do I Have A Bill?

There are a couple of reasons why this may have happened.

• We messed up and left off a copay or test or some other line item. If this happens (and it does, sometimes) we will call you as soon as we catch the mistake so you are not caught off guard with a bill you don’t expect.
• Your medical insurance/vision plan reviewed your claim and adjusted the amount you owe. This can be because you haven’t yet met your deductible, or something is unexpectedly denied.

We are continually adjusting our procedures and systems to better estimate patient responsibility when you are in the office.

Why Is It So Much More Expensive Here? Walmart Never Cost This Much In The Past.

In terms of the exam, we are very intentional about following your insurance co-pays to a T. We never know what you may have been charged in the past but we follow co-pays and allowances exactly. We are not allowed to charge different rates for our cash paying versus insurance patients, so our examination and contact lens fees are set with that in mind and compared locally and nationally to other offices who offer exams like ours.

Do I Need This Extra Testing?

We offer some extra testing at our office, including a photo of the back of your eye (retina), an ultrasound image of the back of the eye (OCT), and visual field evaluation. They are not covered by insurances typically when done for a screening purpose, but we offer them to you because they give Dr. Denton more information and a better record of your eye health over time. Without these tests, your examination is still very thorough and complete, but with the testing we can watch for subtle changes over time, possibly catching potentially blinding eye conditions before they do damage.

If Dr. Denton sees a medical condition in your eyes, she will order the more intensive medical version of these tests, so you don’t have to worry that by opting out she won’t get the information she needs.