When it comes to having your eyes examined, you may have concerns over whether or not you will be able to get help from your insurance company to pay for the exam. In some cases, your eye exam will be covered, but it may not always be covered unless you have an insurance policy that specifically states it covers annual eye exams. The information in the article below will help you to understand the difference between a routine eye exam and a medical eye exam, so you know how to proceed with regards to either using your insurance card, or your own personal credit card.

What a routine eye exam is

A routine eye exam is one where you schedule it, usually in advance, to come in and have your eyes checked to see if everything is still okay and make sure that your vision hasn't changed. If your vision has changed, then you will be given a new prescription, so you can get new glasses and/or contact lenses. Other things will be done during your routine eye exam just to rule out certain conditions.

For example, the optometrist will use a machine that blows a puff of air into your eye to check for glaucoma. Now, if it is determined that the glaucoma test shows signs of glaucoma, then the optometrist may be able to put the exam through as a medical one at that point to get the insurance company to pay for it, or to at least pay for the glaucoma test and any further testing and treatments. Also, the optometrist will use a special light to look deep into your eyes to make sure your retina, cornea and the other parts of your eyes are okay. This light can sometimes also help the optometrist to see growths that will need further checking into.

What a medical eye exam is

A medical eye exam is one that normally consists of a phone call to the optometrist for a reason. No appointment was made in advance because you had no reason to make one. Then, you may have had something come up with one or both of your eyes that is concerning you, so you make the appointment. When you go in for a medical eye exam, it will be easier for you to get the appointment and treatments covered by your insurance company.

A medical eye exam may be one that you have done for such problems as conjunctivitis (pink eye), cataracts, glaucoma, a detached retina, an eye injury, etc. A medical exam is technically one where you will be receiving some type of diagnosis, other than a prescription for prescription lenses.