I went for my annual eye exam today, and while my Blue Cross coverage through the State of Idaho covered my eye exam, glasses and frames aren't paid for until May by which point that coverage will cease. The uninsured price for lens and frames would be $427.
I have a prescription; I am tempted to fax it to various eyeglass places and ask for quotes. Anyone done that before? This might be a strategy.
Alternatively, I heard Lasik advertising $250 per eye.
I've been buying glasses from zennioptical.com - in the three years when I had annual checkups at the big state u opthomology school the student doctors were all keen each time to find the defects in my cheap mail-order glasses, but each time pronounced them to be fully within spec according to their measuring instruments.
ReplyDeleteI've been getting Progressive No-Line Multi-Focal lenses with a different prescription for each eye. Cost was about $45.
I've ordered glasses from eyebuydirect.com. MUCH less expensive, good quality, and FAST!
ReplyDeleteTry Costco
ReplyDeleteUnless your wearing a complicated bi or tri focal lens type of eyeglasses try these folks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zennioptical.com/?gclid=CJypgIGSp9ECFYO4wAod89UKjA
I'm currently wearing trifocals but if I can figure out how to do the measurements correctly (or get someone to do them for me) I'll order my next set from them.
As to the Lasik surgery $250 an eye sounds good but I'd have to confirm how good the doctor was.
I bought a pair of glasses through Zenni Optical and was pretty happy with them--they were much cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Lasik - I used to not be a good candidate - but if you have the distance between your pupils, you can get glasses on line for about 1/3 of what you posted. I haven't tried any of them, but I've heard good things about them.
ReplyDeleteI buy mine online from Eye Buy Direct and save a bunch of money by doing so.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.eyebuydirect.com/
As for LASIK, at your age you might want to wait for cataract surgery, where they replace your lenses with ones that focus right.
I had Lasik 20 years ago. It greatly improved my vision - from 20/200 to 20/15., although it has since drifted so the worst eye is 20/30. But, it has side effects - glare caused by aberrations in the corneal surface. I am glad I did it, but those aberrations, as I age, reduce my acuity a bit, although my corrected vision on an eye test is 20/15.
Costco is usually very competitive.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally get backup glasses from Zinni optical.
I have had great success with Zenni Optical. At first I got a cheap pair of shooting glasses made to my prescription, with polycarbonate lenses; I think they were something like $25/pair. It was wonderful actually being able to see both the target and the front sight! Those are single-vision glasses, with the anti-reflective coating. I've been wearing them (when I go shooting) for over 5 years, no problems at all.
ReplyDeleteNormally I wear bifocal glasses (never could get used to the progressive type) and the last pair I got were bifocal with reading on the bottom and computer-distance on the top; they have been great! I just wish I'd got the anti-reflective coating as well, which I didn't think was necessary but would have been nice to have. As I didn't much care about their looks I got a frame that was on sale for $9.95, the whole cost ended up around $40. They are perfect for my needs and I've been very pleased with them. Definitely worth a look! (Um, to coin a phrase...;)
http://www.zennioptical.com/
I had Lasik done about 12 years ago. It worked immediately and I have never needed glasses for distance vision since. (I use cheap dollar-store reading glasses, but I can get by without them.)
ReplyDeleteI paid several thousand dollars for the treatment, but it was more expensive then, and I went to a top-of-the-line clinic. On the waiting room wall, there was a framed page from an opthalmology professional journal advertising the laser equipment. It depicted the principals of the clinic (a father and son), cited as users of that brand. IOW, these guys were to Lasik what Michael Jordan was to basketball.
I consider the money well spent. There may be much better deals available now, but I would not go to a clinic advertising the lowest price.
I had terrible eyesight for most of my life, and I had coke-bottle lenses for years. My opthalmologist told me I was not a candidate for any kind of refractive surgery.
ReplyDeleteI was delighted to spend ~$750 on a titanium frame and some new-fangled (twenty years ago) plastic lenses.
In ~2010 I shelled out $5500 for laser refractive surgery at the very best clinic I could find. I had only one set of eyes and I would not chance them on cheap surgery.
If you'd like to exchange thoughts, you have my email.
RayBan appears to have a prescription service, at least for their sunglasses frames. I need to get an updated eye test done.
ReplyDeleteThere are places on the web that will do mail order prescription glasses. Check for good reviews first.
I used to use "Site for Sore Eyes", but it turned out to be a franchise system, so if your store closed, that could be a problem. Their lab seemed to have problems correctly fitting lenses to some frames. Annoying to have a lens pop out, with the frame tight.
The $250 price on Lasik is a come on price that doesn't include most of the expense. Think $1000 per eye.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy how expensive glasses are these days. I personally am a little leery of getting Lasik but I have heard of other success stories from friends. I have also heard from others that Walmart has cheap frames if your insurance will not cover them. I hope that you find what you are looking for.
ReplyDelete