Your Appointment
For a comprehensive eye exam, please plan to spend about an hour at the office. A refraction, which determines your eyeglass prescription, eye pressure check for glaucoma, and a dilated pupil exam to evaluate the retina are part of a comprehensive or initial eye exam. In certain cases other tests may be performed. Dilation of your pupils makes it difficult to read images up close and may cause sensitivity to light. For this reason, some patients may wish to have someone along to drive him or her home.

Emergencies
During office hours, please call us at 269-383-1110. If the emergency occurs after office hours, you can also call the office number or the answering service directly at 269-343-1636. The ophthalmologist on call for the Kalamazoo area will be paged.

Billing & Insurance

We participate in many insurance plans and will generally be able to bill your insurance plan for you. We do ask that you be prepared to pay your co-pay at the time of your office visit.
The list below indicates the insurance plans with which we currently participate:

Insurance Plans

Aetna Beech Street BenefitSource Blue Cross Blue Shield        Blue Care Network (BCN) Blue Choice Blue Preferred Blue Trust Capp Care IBA Health Care Medicaid Medicare PHCS PPOM Physician Health Plan (PHP) Preferred Partners TriCare Prime/Standard United Healthcare

Vision Plans Blueshield Vision EYEMED SPECTERA VAP-Vision Service Plan Superior Vision Plan

• Medicare requires a $100.00 deductible at the beginning of every calendar year.
  
  
• Medicare considers a Refraction a "routine service" and it is not a covered benefit. We are required by Medicare to collect the refraction charge from the patient.
  
  
• Medicare pays 80% of the approved amount. The remaining 20% of the approved amount is the responsibility of the patient or their secondary insurance.
  
  
• Your Medicare deductible may not be covered by your secondary insurance. Some secondary insurance plans require their own deductible.
  
  
• Medicare will only pay a portion of glasses once per lifetime after cataract surgery.
  

All HMO patients MUST have a referral from their primary care physician for a medical eye exam.

If there is an overpayment of your account the credit balance will usually be refunded within 30 working days. If you have any questions regarding your account balance or insurance coverage, please call our office at 269-383-1110. We realize that insurance coverage can be very complex and we are here to help you!