Does Walmart Vision Center accept Medicaid?
You need to call the Walmart Vision Center you plan to visit and your Medicaid MCO (The company on your insurance card) if your state has them. Some Walmart's accept Medicaid, some don't. Vision benefits vary from MCO to MCO. The basic Medicaid benefit *shoud* cover your exam, single vision lenses (ie not bi or tri focals) and a limited number of frame options once every two years for adults. If you have an MCO, some offer richer benefits. I've seen some who will go so far as covering contacts even if they are not medically necessary.
Do Walmart Vision Centers accept Medicare plans?
Walmart Vision Centers provide professional medical eye and vision care services. They also sell materials like lenses and frames.Many Walmart doctors of optometry are employees of Walmart and many lease their spaces. I believe there is no single policy prohibiting insurance applications from doctors. In the last several years, more Walmart Vision Center doctors are “accepting” Medicare plans in some form or another. It is important to call each doctor’s office to see what the level of acceptance of coverage.Note: I practiced with National Vision in a Walmart for 16 months.This post is the personal opinion of #Tips4EyeDocs and does not constitute legal, medical or financial advice or a solicitation and is for entertainment value only.
What are the ways to contain medical costs in the US without a single payer system?
Tons of cash-only clinics. Allow people to pay cash for the small stuff and have catastrophic insurance coverage for the big stuff.Open up clinics for low-income people in every town and city in the country. Charge them *something*. (Studies have shown that even a small charge of only $20 cut emergency room visits considerably, but isn't enough to stop the poor from going if they do need to.) If the problem is a non-emergency and the person shows up at the ER, send them to the clinic for more affordable, faster treatment.Make it a law that, in non-emergency situations, the patient be shown the costs up-front (before treatment). Every hospital, clinic, and physician must have clear-cut prices available at all times. (A website would be acceptable) Encourage patients to price-shop for non-emergency services.Doctors need to learn how to *apologize*. Some hospitals have tried having their physicians admit their mistakes and apologize (and offer fair compensation) and found a significant reduction in legal costs and total lawsuits.Cure both Type 1 and 2 diabetes and have a huge "X-prize" for anyone who can come up with a way to replace kidneys. (almost 6% of medicare costs go to dialysis alone) Then keep going. Address the most expensive problems one-by-one and have the FDA fast-track the treatments.Change the FDA food pyramid guidelines to support healthier eating. Encourage restaurants to switch from trans fats to saturated fat. Lower the suggested amount of processed grains.These are just a few ideas. There are a hundred ways to make healthcare more affordable for everyone. Some of these ideas will reduce the overall burden on the system.
Can I expect incredibly high prices for brand name prescription drugs under a high deductible HSA health plan?
Note this is for the US Market only:The insurance companies typically don't sell the drugs, they negotiate prices with the sellers. This is why companies like express scripts make money, because they are a mail order service AND they manage the pharmacy benefits of large companies that insure their own workers so they don't have the overhead of a brick and mortar pharmacy but negotiate prices with themselves and other pharmacies.These high deductible HSA plans don't have as much incentive to negotiate prices because they don't pay for anything other than catastrophic care. So in some cases you might pay more but you are free to find a cheaper pharmacy.But generic levothyroxine is on Walmart’s $4 generic list for a 30 day supply in a variety of dosages, so if you can take the generic that seems like a better deal.In general the high deductible HSA plans exist for healthy people who don't actually use their insurance benefits. If you have chronic condition or a family history of something serious, I would (and do) get the best PPO insurance I can find. But I am very risk averse.
I'm broke but i need glasses really bad...?
Medicare as some people have answered may not be the right answer in your case. To have Medicare you must be in your 60's (usually) and this only pays for your exam if you have a medical condition of the eyes (most people do to some degree and an optometrist will agree with me) In terms of glasses, medicare ONLY pays for them after cataract surgery...no other time. Here are some options worth lookings into: 1. If you are a veteran the VA system may help you get free glasses if you have service connection over 10%. 2. Look into your local lions club...they often provide eye exams and glasses to the truely needy in their community but you'll most likely have to go through an interview process and income check...it is for the TRUELY needy! 3.Walmart, etc do have relatively inexpensive exam and frame rates. Wouldn't be my first choice for a quality eye exam but if you're tight on cash it would work. Hope this help...whatever you do you need to see an optometrist quickly if you are truely seeing spots in your vision. They can be representitive of vascular conditions sometime and this would be a serious threat to your sight down the road. Best to get this checked ASAP.