Hey there! I recently noticed that there are many people asking about the military eye insurance. Some of you do not understand the difference of paying for the new insurance and not paying for it. Well I am here to break in down for you as simply as possible.
Basically, if you do not buy additional eye insurance you are only covered by Tricare for a yearly eye exam.
But if you buy additional eye insurance you are covered for much more. There are many different plans that you are able to buy. The lowest at $6 and some odd cents and more expensive ones that can go up to $15-$20 a month.
These plans can cover anything from eye glasses to contacts to Lasik and many other additional things.
For me personally I bought the cheapest plan possible at (rounded) $7 a month. My plan with Aetna covers one pair of glasses a year (frames). Then I only have to pay $10 for lenses. I do have the option to get contacts however I do not like them. I also have the possibility to get Lasik at 20% off the procedure and 20%-40% off any additional glasses I want to buy. My plan however does not cover the Digital Retinal Scan (what is done instead if dilating your eyes). Normally this cost about $28-$38.
I went to LensCrafter this year for my eye exam. For my exam I ended up only paying $38 for the Digital Retinal Scan. I then picked out my frames with them. Out of all the frames they had there was only one pair that I liked and that actually fit my head. Of course, they were designer frames that cost $250. Luckily my insurance some how did cover my frames cost. On top of that I just had to pay $10 for my lenses. Then I opted for the blue light lens at additional coverage since I work in front of screens a lot. This was an additional $60 ish dollars. Therefore, in the end for my eye exam and for my glasses I paid about $110 plus tax.
But remember you don’t have to buy the additional parts. In the end I only pay $84 a year for my eye insurance + $38 for digital scan + $10 for lenses. That’s only $132 a year that covers your exam and frames.
Now I say that’s not too bad. And for me it is definitely worth my money to invest into the insurance than to pay out of pocket.
