[billethkid]

The annual eye exam usually includes a refraction that is not covered by Medicare or the supplement insurance. It has been a $25 charge since the day the opened their doors, and what I paid last year.

Yesterday, shock of shocks!!! The price for the refraction has gone up to $40......60.0% increase!!!!
That is most certainly the biggest single increase in medical cost for us to date (percentage wise). I have no idea what their increase to medicare might have been.

Gooch is a fine doctor. The people are still very attentive.

St. Lukes has undergone many changes within the last year. They added another doctor, Dr. Gooch. Dr. Ireland now only sees patients referred for surgery. Arbitrarily transferred long time patients, like us, to him. Not a problem. Just the inconsiderate implementation.

St. Luke's practice has gone from one of very effective, comfortably paced, service to the usual overwhelmed resident volume increase. That is fine except when it affects the end user, the patient.

St. Luke's has become village resident volumized.

Next year we will be requesting there be no refraction.....we both do not wear glasses.

I would still recommend them as Ireland is one of the best at what she does.

Except for gouging the cost of refraction!!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by billethkid

The annual eye exam usually includes a refraction that is not covered by Medicare or the supplement insurance. It has been a $25 charge since the day the opened their doors, and what I paid last year.

Yesterday, shock of shocks!!! The price for the refraction has gone up to $40......a 37.5% increase!!!!
That is most certainly the biggest single increase in medical cost for us to date (percentage wise). I have no idea what their increase to medicare might have been.

Gooch is a fine doctor. The people are still very attentive.

St. Lukes has undergone many changes within the last year. They added another doctor, Dr. Gooch. Dr. Ireland now only sees patients referred for surgery. Arbitrarily transferred long time patients, like us, to him. Not a problem. Just the inconsiderate implementation.

St. Luke's practice has gone from one of very effective, comfortably paced, service to the usual overwhelmed resident volume increase. That is fine except when it affects the end user, the patient.

St. Luke's has become village resident volumized.

Next year we will be requesting there be no refraction.....we both do not wear glasses.

I would still recommend them as Ireland is one of the best at what she does.

Except for gouging the cost of refraction!!

Seriously???? If the price went from 1 cent to 5 cents would you be complaining of a 500% increase? $40 for a refraction is a bargain

[EPutnam1863]

When we had our annual eye exams done last year, we were asked if our prescription glasses were ok. When we said yes, they said ok, then we won't do refraction. We no longer do them as a matter of routine. they said.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Seriously???? If the price went from 1 cent to 5 cents would you be complaining of a 500% increase? $40 for a refraction is a bargain

None of the above addresses the issue of magnitude of increase.

Sixty percent (60%) increases are beyond reasonable.
And that it is in the patients out of pocket!

I do not subscribe to being a frog in the pot on the stove methodology.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by billethkid

None of the above addresses the issue of magnitude of increase.

Sixty percent (60%) increases are beyond reasonable.
And that it is in the patients out of pocket!

I do not subscribe to being a frog in the pot on the stove methodology.

So, vote with your wallet---go find an ophthalmologist who does refractions cheaper

[Hancle704]

Was there a change in Medicare allowed amount/reimbursement? Did your insurance change in past year. I got switched from traditional Medicare with UHC as secondary to UHC Medicare Advantage and as a result there have been many changes in my co-pays.

[fraurauch]

I was just there yesterday for the first time and paid the $40.00 for the refraction. A year and a half ago, I paid $50.00 at Ocala Eye for a refraction, so I thought $40.00 was a bargain. Also, it wasn't crowded and they took me in 15 minutes early. That has never happened to me before, so I was very pleased with the experience.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by Hancle704

Was there a change in Medicare allowed amount/reimbursement? Did your insurance change in past year. I got switched from traditional Medicare with UHC as secondary to UHC Medicare Advantage and as a result there have been many changes in my co-pays.

Medicare does NOT cover refraction, nor do most other insurance plans.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

So, vote with your wallet---go find an ophthalmologist who does refractions cheaper

He probably won't. BUT... I think he has a legit beef.

I speak up when physicians suddenly are doing tests and charging more or doing tests that aren't necessary or doing tests in their offices that were usually performed at outside facilities such as Holter Monitors. Our doctor's aid put one on me and admitted he had not done it before. Several leads fell off before the 24 hours was up. We paid for the test but it wasn't really giving us all the info. I left another physician here who hired someone to do tests on blood flow to the legs. I hadn't had any problem with blood flow to my legs.

Most people know me as a champion of traditional medicine but I have never had to be wary of any practices by physicians until I moved to Florida. There isn't a large teaching hospital nearby and we often get doctors in this area that nobody else is begging for. I freely admit that it was a charge that Mr. Kidd could easily afford and it wasn't much but it is the principle of the thing. As we age we spend more time and money visiting physicians. We don't want the cheapest, we want the best and we want not to waste our money on people looking to gouge be it groceries or physicians.

[rmd2]

Medicare and other insurers will pay for this exam IF they are done for a medical reason such as a macular check up etc. however St. Lukes has not been coding my refraction exams properly and I have paid for each and every one of them for the past 4 years and they are done approximately every 6 mos. The "refraction" eye exam I get has NOTHING to do with eye-glasses. It is done to check for loss of vision, but I have still have to pay for them.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by Liz22

Medicare and other insurers will pay for this exam IF they are done for a medical reason such as a macular check up etc. however St. Lukes has not been coding my refraction exams properly and I have paid for each and every one of them for the past 4 years and they are done approximately every 6 mos. The "refraction" eye exam I get has NOTHING to do with eye-glasses. It is done to check for loss of vision, but I have still have to pay for them.

Eye exams | Medicare.gov

What Is a REFRACTION and why doesn’t insurance always cover it?

So if you have a medical eye problem like cataracts, dry eyes or glaucoma then Medicare and most other Health Insurances will cover the Medical portion of the eye exam but not the refraction.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Liz22

Medicare and other insurers will pay for this exam IF they are done for a medical reason such as a macular check up etc. however St. Lukes has not been coding my refraction exams properly and I have paid for each and every one of them for the past 4 years and they are done approximately every 6 mos. The "refraction" eye exam I get has NOTHING to do with eye-glasses. It is done to check for loss of vision, but I have still have to pay for them.

Why don't you ask them to change the code? We've had that happen, where the code was wrong (not with eye specialist) and got the billing people to change the code.