Glasses on the medical card

LadyMayBelle

Wondering can I get them? Went to price a new pair the other day in my usual opticians (I have very bad vision and need thinning etc) Told me I would be looking at 295 for the lens alone never mind the frame..what??

Are the glasses on the medical card rubbishy, what does it cover?

Daisies

Hi,
The medical card entitles you to a free eye test and free glasses from a certain range (different shops will have different ranges). However they will not cover the thinning down of the lenses unless your prescription is above a certain level and wont thin them down to the 295 thinness. However if you go for a different frame you will get about 43 off the price at the end.
However you do need to have a form authorised before you go ahead with anything.

Hope this helps

Red Sleeping Beauty

You can only use your medical card for opticians once every 2 years.

Basically you get either 60euro off of contact lenses or you get about 80 euro off of glasses. Thing is though you can't just walk in , flash your card and say gimme mah free Gregorys... The way it works is (I think) you get a rebate. So you've to pay for the glasses and then you go back to the opticians for your money back. That's how it works in my opticians anyway (local chap in Sundrive Rd here in Dublin) but I think it might be different with the bigger chains (ye know , them big rubbish glasses places that try and sell you all sorts of useless extras )

Red Sleeping Beauty

Hang on, €295 for lenses :eek:
What the hell ? Are the lenses made of diamonds ? That sounds very very expensive...

fakefurbabe

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Basically you get either 60euro off of contact lenses or you get about 80 euro off of glasses

That's news to me - just been told by my optician this week that the Medical Card doesn't cover contact lenses!!

Red Sleeping Beauty

fakefurbabe wrote: »

That's news to me - just been told by my optician this week that the Medical Card doesn't cover contact lenses!!

Leonard Costello opticians in Sundrive Shopping Centre in Sundrive. Dublin 12 or something it is.

Some opticians make up their own rules . I don't think they all have to accept the medical card even. Get an optician you can trust that won't screw you over to be honest. Lotsa chancers out there. And not just the smaller ones - the big chains have got targets and margins to meet ergo it's in their (and probably the shareholder's )best interest to sell you glasses!!

Moonbeam

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Hang on, €295 for lenses :eek:
What the hell ? Are the lenses made of diamonds ? That sounds very very expensive...

No ,mine cost me that or more.

If you have a high prescription and want nice frames and lenses that don't look huge then you need to get high index lenses and they cost a fortune.
Normal lenses are also uncomfortably heavy.

I have taken to buying my glasses and lenses in the UK vision2you.co.uk are really good.You need a valid prescription from an optician.

If you go in to specsavers or most big opticians you can view the glasses range that are free on PRSI and medical card.

LadyMayBelle

Yeah, 295 is pretty standard for my gammy eyesight!! sucks..always hated specsavers and swore i would never go back to them after they scratched my glasses during a clean, and denied it and i was raging, an inch worth f a indented scratch on the lens, I think I would have noticed it before as I wear glasses all day...but with these recessionary times I may be crawling back in, cap in hand..

vector

if I might mention a related discount scheme...

PRSI...

Its never worked for me and for one reason or another they can never phone and I must fill in a form and wait 3 weeks for a reply but...

if and when it works how much can PRSI knock off the cost of an eyetest and glasses?

Red Sleeping Beauty

PRSI should get you a free eyetest. Yes. free.

Shamanic

as alan said, a free eyetest and 42.66 toward your glasses

vector

the figure of 2xx was considered expensive above...

I spend about EUR 450 every 2 years in vision express
-Rimless frames
-Thinnest lenses available with every optional extra (anti glare, anti scratch - although I think they are the default anyway)

x in the city

Moonbeam wrote: »

No ,mine cost me that or more.

If you have a high prescription and want nice frames and lenses that don't look huge then you need to get high index lenses and they cost a fortune.
Normal lenses are also uncomfortably heavy.

I have taken to buying my glasses and lenses in the UK vision2you.co.uk are really good.You need a valid prescription from an optician.

If you go in to specsavers or most big opticians you can view the glasses range that are free on PRSI and medical card.

I need new specs, mine cost about 400e a few years ago (-4.75, thin lens and all the extras...!). I got flexi frame I dont need no more and a uv reactive lens I dont need no more as my ex said I look like a gangster with them :rolleyes:).

I seen oakley glasses on the site you linked, 155e for a frame, thats pounds. Are they cheaper than Ireland, that site...?

endplate

x in the city wrote: »

I need new specs, mine cost about 400e a few years ago (-4.75, thin lens and all the extras...!). I got flexi frame I dont need no more and a uv reactive lens I dont need no more as my ex said I look like a gangster with them :rolleyes:).

I seen oakley glasses on the site you linked, 155e for a frame, thats pounds. Are they cheaper than Ireland, that site...?

Good bargains to be got here. Free deliver in the ROI too

Jippo

I got a pair of glasses four months ago on a medical card. I lost these glasses recently.

I went back to Specsavers today to order a new pair and I paid €85.

Not that I think I should be entitled to another pair of glasses so soon on the medical card I can't find any information online on how often I could get replacement glasses?

Now I only use the glasses for night-driving (no idea how I lost them), but it's a question I can't find the answer to.

Daisies

Jippo wrote: »

I got a pair of glasses four months ago on a medical card. I lost these glasses recently.

I went back to Specsavers today to order a new pair and I paid €85.

Not that I think I should be entitled to another pair of glasses so soon on the medical card I can't find any information online on how often I could get replacement glasses?

Now I only use the glasses for night-driving (no idea how I lost them), but it's a question I can't find the answer to.

You are entitled to one every 2 years. However if you lose them or your prescription changes, your optometrist can fill in a form to allow you for a replacement pair sooner than the 2 years. However I'm pretty sure you can only do this after a year.

Jippo

Daisies wrote: »

You are entitled to one every 2 years. However if you lose them or your prescription changes, your optometrist can fill in a form to allow you for a replacement pair sooner than the 2 years. However I'm pretty sure you can only do this after a year.

Thank you very much for your help.

Luckylaydee

Hi, just a quick question, I have a medical card and I have got the form for the eyetest filled out by my Health Centre, I have made my appointment with specsavers this week....what I need to know is how much will I have to pay to get a pair of glasses ( I know I need them), I just want cheap pair, nothing fancy...thanks

Daisies

Luckylaydee wrote: »

Hi, just a quick question, I have a medical card and I have got the form for the eyetest filled out by my Health Centre, I have made my appointment with specsavers this week....what I need to know is how much will I have to pay to get a pair of glasses ( I know I need them), I just want cheap pair, nothing fancy...thanks

There are basic ones that you can get free. Anything outside of that range you get an allowance of about 40 off (can't remember the exact figure)

endplate

Daisies wrote: »

You are entitled to one every 2 years. However if you lose them or your prescription changes, your optometrist can fill in a form to allow you for a replacement pair sooner than the 2 years. However I'm pretty sure you can only do this after a year.

Just to clarify everybody with a full medical card is entitled to an allowance towards glasses every year, and an eye test every 2 years unless you have a eye condition then the Optician can request a eye test every year.

CarbonX

Luckylaydee wrote: »

Hi, just a quick question, I have a medical card and I have got the form for the eyetest filled out by my Health Centre, I have made my appointment with specsavers this week....what I need to know is how much will I have to pay to get a pair of glasses ( I know I need them), I just want cheap pair, nothing fancy...thanks

HI Luckylaydee, I'm getting new glasses from Specsavers next week. I just rang them & told them I have a full medical card & asked what the low down is. She is posting a form, stamped by her store. I have to get it authorized by my HSE centre & then bring it in to the store. I get a free eye test & 42 Euro off any glasses. I do not have to pay this first & claim a rebate later. So 89 Euro glasses, with test will cost me 47 Euro only. This includes in-store offers like 2 for 1 etc. Hope that clears things up.

afro man

CarbonX wrote: »

HI Luckylaydee, I'm getting new glasses from Specsavers next week. I just rang them & told them I have a full medical card & asked what the low down is. She is posting a form, stamped by her store. I have to get it authorized by my HSE centre & then bring it in to the store. I get a free eye test & 42 Euro off any glasses. I do not have to pay this first & claim a rebate later. So 89 Euro glasses, with test will cost me 47 Euro only. This includes in-store offers like 2 for 1 etc. Hope that clears things up.

thats just the basic lowest offer on just basic reading glasses and frames, you may need varifocal lenses which start from standard 75 euro / premium 115 / elite 145 / tailor made 195 plus anti-glare extra 65-70euro , frames start at 25 - 250 euro they usually try and push you towards dear lenses & frames,.. check special offers on specsavers website before you go into store as they really dont tell you all the offers once you are in there. ...http://www.specsavers.ie/offers/

CarbonX

Hi Afro-man,
I think she just wanted to know the low-down on what full medical card holders are entitled to & how to do it without paying full price 1st then wait for rebate.
So I gave the info. Free eye test & 42 Euro off whatever your purchasing. Simple as. Don't see how my info is confusing? Free eye test + 42 off final price, no matter what you buy.

endplate

You get €82 off the cost of new glasses with varifocals or bifocals on the medical card.