Optical Care
- This topic has 39 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 11 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
What do most people due about routine eye care. Just looking at prices for top up healthcare and it seems the extra fee is quite high for optical care and glasses and unsure what this actually covers.
First pair of specs here,RDV at opthamologist after a wait of 6 monthe,can be even longer,fee of 30 ish Euros. Specs cost over €600, got €11 back from CPAM,we only have hospital top up. Second pair,eye test at Tesco,on a visit back, specs cost £230, with varifocals in the thinner range. I collected them on my next visit as they took two weeks. The opticians are a bit more competitive here now,price wise, but still expensive. You can buycheaper on line but for varifocals I think the personal touch is best.
Optic 2000 at Rostrenen did an eye test within a week, €20 which I haven’t paid as they knock it off the price of the glasses. Don’t know how much they’ll be as I had to take the report to my doctor so he can issue the prescription which I then need to take back to the opticians. However, I will then have a prescription so I could order online I guess and get the cheapest price.
After 12 month’s wait, rdv with Ophtalmologue in Morlaix, prescription same visit, Optic 2000 in Carhaix for the glasses, only 25€ to pay thanks to mutuelle and second pair for 1€. Well worth having a mutuelle, got mine through the same insurance agency as car, Generali in Callac (22).
Same as VK regarding having a mutuelle. If I need an appointment I ensure I make one well in advance, in other words I make one asap after the last one and ask for in 12 months.
Our mutuelle will allow you double the yearly amount in the second year if you do not use them the year before. Which is what I will be doing this year and like many for €1 more you can get a pair of prescription sun glasses.
We (hubby and I) have our check ups at Specsavers in the UK. The first year we were here we had our eyes tested in Morlaix hospital but the waiting time there now is about 11 months. We then obtained ‘devis’ from about 3 opticians here locally and the cheapest pair was €800!! So we waited until we went to the UK and bought 4 pairs (2 each), all with reaction lenses and hubby’s are variofocal, for a total of £555 for all 4! So, it’s a no-brainer really.
We have that in our Mutuelle too (as mentioned by Sid Davis) but we don’t bother claiming as it’s a bit bothersome trying to obtain a refund when the glasses were bought in the UK in £ sterling. The amount we would get refunded just isn’t worth the hassle.
Marie, I agree that it is cheaper to buy in the UK, especially at Specsavers, or even on the internet but then it can be a matter of chance they fit OK or even suit you, what looks ok online doesn’t always be the same on arrival.
Why I use an Opthamologiste is because I need a thorough test every year, an eye test at an optician for glasses doesn’t offer that same treatment here. Also my mutuelle is for glasses at €200 per year, so for €400 I can find exactly what I want, in most opticians here, especially with a Mutualiste opticians, well for me anyway but I have in the past bought both online and in the UK for second or third pairs.
We don’t buy the glasses online Sid Davis, I’d never do that. We choose them and have them properly fitted in store. The test in Specsavers is very advanced, it looks at eye health, not just a test to see what glasses you need. It wasn’t so advanced in Morlaix hospital when we visited in 2011.
The online companies from the USA are really good value. you have to offer several measurements and are great for spare glasses. Have no idea about Morlaix but the lady I see in Dinan is very good and takes a lot of time over the examination. I live in France, I use French health care including visiting an Opthamologiste. I don’t mind if people take the cheaper option, we all want to save a few bob here and there but what if whilst having an eye test in the UK and they spotted something, what will you do?
Too much waiting and faffing about to get mine in France. On my last (reluctant) visit to UK I got the exam and prescription for free in Tesco’s. Then returned home and ordered them from Zennioptical on the internet. I have had two or three pairs from them and the quality and attention to detail is excellent. I get varifocals in lightweight unbreakable frames for under £50.
I never go to the UK so for me Specsavers etc is not an option. My glasses are varifocal and photochromic and I tend to need new ones every 2 years. I usually have a 3-4 month wait to see the opthalmist and my mutual covers that cost. I just had new lenses last month and the cost of the lenses was 282€. I kept the same frames as didn’t see the point in changing them. It took 45 minutes to put in the new lenses. I don’t have mutual cover for glasses because the extra monthly premiums would be more than the cost of new glasses every 2 years.
Whatever works for you
I did have a test at Krys for sunglasses,but was only able to ,as my last prescription,got in the UK,was less than 3 years old.If it had been older than 3 years ,I would have had to go to an opthamologist. Of course the Krys test was not as comprehensive as an opthamologist test.
Interesting and different opinions. So does one see the doctor to get a referral for a routine eye test and then i presume it is up to you what you do with the prescription? It is not an option for us to visit the UK regularly.
No, it is almost the one thing you do not need to see your Doctor for a referral. You can either make an appointment to see an opthomologiste, or walk straight in to an opticians but be warned, most opticians here still do not offer eye tests, so call ahead, or be prepared to ask a few before you find one. You might be lucky first call but…..
For a more thorough and correct eye examination, you need to see an optho.
Just so you don’t get funny looks when you ask, in France it’s an ophtalmologue, in the UK it’s an ophthalmologist. After the first rendezvous, which as said can take up to 12 months to get, you can ask for six monthly checkups, which means no long wait the next time round.
Opthalmologist waiting time depends a lot on where you live, but most opticians do vision test’s for free, and glasses are available from 17€, vari focals start from around 85€. If you want a cheap eye test, and cheap designer glasses then it might be more cost effective to go to Goa. My wife has an expensive pair of frame’s, had new varifocal lenses fitted for 80€ the pair.
If you are visiting the UK and can get a cheap eye test and thorough check and the optician finds a problem that needs to be looked at by a specialist, then I’m sure your French GP can get you an appointment in France sooner than later when you return.
I see, so one wants a cheap eye test and goes over to the UK, then if something is wrong return back to France to have the op or whatever. I smell health tourist in their somewhere, the very accusation that the UK holds against people arriving in the UK for treatments. A little bit of hypocrisy but hey, if it’s cheaper in the UK for glasses (which it is) and treatment covered by S1 and mutuelle in France for a free op or treatment, then health tourist it is.
Having never been to the UK for an eye test, I don’t know to what extent an eye test in Tesco’s or Specsavers goes, is it an eye test for glasses or/and a fuller check?
bo, do you mean plain and simple read off their test card as free for glasses? If so that can still be difficult to find. As you know in France the prescription given to you by the opthamoogiste is accepted by the optician and remboursement is then offered by your social security and in the main by your mutuelle. You will get nothing back if you find an optician who will give you a pure and simple vision test. I agree what could be better than to go to Goa for glasses
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
