FAQ

Medical insurance will cover your eye exam most of the time assuming you have met your deductible (if there is one) if your primary symptoms are not blurry vision. Ie – If your symptoms include floaters, redness, itchy eyes, dry eye, eye pain, discharge, etc. And in some cases, the medical insurance will cover the routine eye exam as well. We normally will ask this question when verifying your benefits for you and let you know before your exam.

Vision insurance typically will also cover products ie glasses and contacts and is used for routine exams such as glasses and contact lens prescriptions/fittings as well as a general check-up of the eye. Most vision insurance panels will also cover products like an expense account every 12 to 24 months depending on the panel. Vision insurance, unlike medical insurance, can be used only once per allotted time period and will not cover any further disease-specific tests you may need.

Due to the sheer number of insurance panels, it is not possible for us to accept all medical and/or vision plans. Should you wish to continue care at our office, you may be able to file for out of network benefits yourself, and we would be more than happy to assist you in this.

Sometimes, but not always. Many vision insurance panels require the use of specific laboratories which they own in order to make your glasses. We have a state of the art on site laboratory in our store but due to some specific insurance panel requirements of using their insurance owned laboratory the process is inefficient sometimes. Not all vision panels require the use of their own laboratories.

We do our best to verify both the medical and vision benefits for you prior to your visit. Feel free to contact us should you have any questions. Information we need typically includes the policy holders information as well as the patients.

Because a contact lens fits directly on the eye, more parameters need to be determined to ensure that this device that rests on your eye is fitting properly to minimize the potential of damage. All contact lens exams preformed at our office include the contact lens prescription(s) as well as the spectacle prescription.

Most vision insurances will cover either glasses or contacts per calendar year. You can still purchase both should you want, but you will be able to apply your coverage towards one or the other typically. Most panels also offer a discount for the non-covered item should it be purchased the same day.

We include a scratch warranty on all spectacle lenses provided which will cover the replacement of the lens for a nominal fee should you need to use it. We do not charge you up front for a warranty as not everyone will need it. We only charge this when the warranty is used. Normally this is $10/lens and/or $15/frame for frame defects. Your dog eating your glasses would not be covered unfortunately but most scratches due to coating defects or frame breakages due to defects are covered.

Not necessarily, we have a state of the art on-site laboratory capable of edging most lens materials so that you can wait while your glasses are made. If your frame is in good condition and you prefer to use it versus getting a new frame you can.

We don’t do surgeries in-house, but we are a member of the Lasik team at Texas Regional Eye Center and are able to do the initial workup and evaluation for LASIK as well as all the post-operative care and follow up exams. Let us know if you are interested in an evaluation.

We are not able to submit to medicaid for our patients but we do offer a bargain line of frames and run occasional sales and discounts to help our more price-conscious patients.

We are! While our doctor is not available on the weekends, from 9:30 until 2:00 we are open for frame purchases, adjustments, and repairs.

We offer our first appointment at 9:15 and our last at 5:30 on Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, our first appointment is at 9:00 and our last appointment is at 1:30. If you think you need an early or late appointment be sure to call early, these spots are our most popular and they tend to fill up fast!

We love our doctor, but his name can sometimes stump even long-time patients! To sound like an expert just thinks Sheen-ee.

Generally, we see patients for the first time at around age 5, or once your child is able to speak in complete sentences and reliably recognize shapes. If you have a family history of eye issues or if you have noticed behavior that makes you think your child may have an issue, we have seen children as young as 22 months old.

We do have extra chairs for guests in the exam lane, but we ask patients to please limit their guests to one additional person in order to minimize distractions during the exam.

We are able to communicate simple instructions to our Spanish speaking patients, but your exam will be more comprehensive if you are able to bring a translator to your appointment.

We do not require a referral to see medical patients, but some insurances do require a referral from the primary doctor in order to receive coverage. If you’re not sure then you’re welcome to give us a call and we will try and find the information for you.

Absolutely! As long as your prescription is less than one year old and your frame is in good condition, we’re more than happy to get you set up with new lenses. We may recommend a new frame if we feel conditions won’t allow for an additional year of use, but we don’t require frames to be purchased from us.