?? about Financial Help for Vision Therapy

[nitascool]

Is there any place I can call to get financial assistance for Vision Therapy in NE Ohio. My ds had an Eval. with a Dev. Opt. last week and he said that ds has tracking problems, an eye turn and a muscle problem... he wants us to make an appointment for a consultation to explain every thing more fully.

 

The Opt. told me that ds would need at least 16 weeks of VT with home treatment 5-6 days a week as well, to the tune of $1,792.00. We don't qualify for CreditCare and our Ins. doesn't cover VT so there is no way we can afford to get the treatment without some sort of assistance. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[Twinmom]

I don't know any way to get financial assistance with VT unless your doctor can offer a payment plan. Either that or possibly he can give you some training then offer more work at home than in the office. I've heard of that being done, though my doc won't do it.

 

However, that said, the price you are getting is significantly less than what I am paying (or, currently putting on a credit card! :glare:). Our VT is going to be over $4,500, plus the evals that we just got covered by insurance (hurray for small miracles!). Is your doc already offering a discount?

[nitascool]

If we pay it all at once he charges $1,500 this is for 16 sessions which he thinks will meet our sons needs. If it doesn't we will have to pay $112 per session the "periodic" evaluations are extra $70 each, but the home material is included in the cost. And yes, I think he gave us the "your an hour away" discount because I heard his secretary telling another patient that their VT would be $2,900 but then it could be the type of VT that he's going to get also. He also offers a monthly plan that is almost the cost of our rent. I guess we could move in to their office, but I'm not sure they'd like that too much. lol

[Laurie4b]

That's cheap compared to what we're paying: $130 per session. At their estimated time of completion, we'll have spent over $5000. Oh, and we had to pay $100 for materials fee. I was expecting a home balance board or something for that price. So far, it's an eye patch, rubber ball with a string through it, some beads on a rope (haven't used them yet) and some photocopied eye charts. It includes borrowing things like a plastic lens of differing powers (there's a $5 price tag left on one of them). I almost cried on the way home the first day with our "supplies" package. I'm still holding out hope that there will be something that justifies this money. It really ticks me off because this is the best practice in the area. I feel like I'm over a barrel.

[Twinmom]

Same here. Stinks, doesn't it? I can thankfully say that I already see a difference in DD's reading ability, so I've hope that it is worth it. It's just a LOT of money. We're waiting right now to hear whether or not insurance will kick in something beyond the eval.

[Nancy in NH]

That's cheap compared to what we're paying: $130 per session. At their estimated time of completion, we'll have spent over $5000. Oh, and we had to pay $100 for materials fee. I was expecting a home balance board or something for that price. So far, it's an eye patch, rubber ball with a string through it, some beads on a rope (haven't used them yet) and some photocopied eye charts. It includes borrowing things like a plastic lens of differing powers (there's a $5 price tag left on one of them). I almost cried on the way home the first day with our "supplies" package. I'm still holding out hope that there will be something that justifies this money. It really ticks me off because this is the best practice in the area. I feel like I'm over a barrel.

 

 

We were quoted (roughly, as ds hasn't had visual processing evaluation yet) that it would cost in the $4,000-$6,000 range. No mention was made of at-home software, even after I discussed our inability to afford it(or finance it, for that matter). I did inquire about at-home software programs, after someone suggested it, and what do you know, it's an option and it costs only $150! I still have to get my ds in for the evaluation (he's had an exam only), but I'm fighting to get PCP's referral coordinator to work with my insurance to get the needed referral. I don't get why the insurances will cover the evaluation (that essentially tells what VT will be beneficial), but won't cover even a portion of the VT itself. I'm really ticked off that the VT therapist I spoke with didn't suggest the at-home software. I've been feeling pretty skeptical about jumping into VT with this practice, even having them follow-up if we proceed with the at-home therapy. I can't see how, with good intentions of doing what's best for the patient, they just decide not to offer a more practical solution to those that cannot afford it. For what it's worth, why wouldn't they offer it to everyone? I realize it's not for everyone, that doing it at home could be tough for some, but it is an option...

 

For us, it is more than just a financial concern. Ds has other health issues (migraines and congenital heart defect--currently battling a faulty mitral valve, mitral valve regurgitation, and an enlarged heart) that I am certain would interfere with him getting through lengthy therapy sessions. My concerns about that were pretty much dismissed. And that makes me wonder yet again why at-home therapy wasn't suggested. Making and keeping appointments (in addition to the ones to all his other specialists) would be difficult for him. In doing it at home, I could at least do it when he's at his best, which is hardly predictable.

 

I can see why you were ready to cry, Laurie4b! It probably cost them all of $10 to supply you those materials. I can still see the therapist watching me hold back tears when she gave me a quote for in-office VT. She even went so far as to tell me she'd talk to the doctor to see if there were any other alternatives, but she never followed through and I didn't hear back. I emailed her three weeks later and told her I'd heard about at-home software and it suddenly became an option. She has sent some rather rude emails to me since then. I guess, since I'm not willing to fork over thousands of dollars, I've become less important. And since this inevitably affects my ds, I'll get the evaluation there (because they are the only dev. OD my insurance will cover), get ds' chart and then get another OD to prescribe the software.

 

Sorry for the long rant. This has been weighing on me for over a month...

Nancy

[Rod Everson]

Is there any place I can call to get financial assistance for Vision Therapy in NE Ohio. My ds had an Eval. with a Dev. Opt. last week and he said that ds has tracking problems, an eye turn and a muscle problem... he wants us to make an appointment for a consultation to explain every thing more fully.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi, If insurance is going to cover VT, it's usually the medical insurance that does so, not a vision insurance policy. For example, if your medical insurance would cover surgical correction of the "eye turn/muscle problem," then a case can be made that correcting it with VT (which is possible, by the way) might also be covered by insurance. It's a viable option and it's cheaper than surgery besides.

 

In any case, I've seen the enough results of successful vision therapy (I have a private practice phonics instruction business and work with a lot of kids after VT) that I think you should do whatever you can to see that your child gets the VT. The price you've been quoted seems reasonable. However, I would ask for some names of satisfied parents before proceeding. VT practices do vary, and the better ones will have a lot of parents willing to talk to you about outcomes.

 

Frankly, if the one you're seeing has plenty of satisfied parents of their former patients, you will be getting VT presented in about the most efficient way it can be presented and for a very fair price, provided you diligently do the home exercises. At least that's my opinion.

 

Rod Everson

OnTrack Reading

[Laurie4b]

$10 is about right. If we don't get some more equipment, I'm really going to complain to our regular optometrist, who referred us to this dev. optometrist. It feels really bad to feel like you're being ripped off and you don't have alternatives if you want to get help for your child. If there was an alternative locally, I'd be outta there. But this is the dev. opt. most highly recommended in this area.

 

Not only that, but if I give less than a couple weeks notice, we have to "make up" a session if we miss one. For instance, I cancelled one with 48 hours notice and we have to make it up. That means two sessions in one week. We are "allowed" off for vacation with long notice.

 

We were aware of the in-home software, but our optometrist, who provides it, thought that ds's problems were too severe and that he wouldn't profit from it. It was a $500 pkg. including the eval and follow up office progress evals.

 

Argh! I come from two professions (clinical social work and education/tutoring) where there are a LOT of soft-hearted people who want to help kids and who will be accomodating with finances, so it does feel really wrong to me to read your story.

[Rod Everson]

$10 is about right. If we don't get some more equipment, I'm really going to complain to our regular optometrist, who referred us to this dev. optometrist. It feels really bad to feel like you're being ripped off and you don't have alternatives if you want to get help for your child. If there was an alternative locally, I'd be outta there. But this is the dev. opt. most highly recommended in this area.

 

Hi Laurie,

 

I'm not sure why you feel "ripped off." You're not paying for equipment, but for therapy and for the professional guidance on what equipment is needed in your own child's particular case. As you said, the developmental OD comes highly recommended. In fact, it's somewhat unusual for a regular family OD to even refer to a developmental optometrist, so rather than complain to him about the referral, I would be grateful you got the advice. Every time they make such a referral, they take the chance of losing an entire family of patients to a competitor, if the developmental OD also does regular eye care (and most do.) Note added later: Oops, I didn't notice that you'd paid a $100 material fee when I wrote this, Laurie. If it's not refundable when you return all the equipment, I see your point. That's a hefty charge and I was wrong; you are paying for equipment.

 

Not only that, but if I give less than a couple weeks notice, we have to "make up" a session if we miss one. For instance, I cancelled one with 48 hours notice and we have to make it up. That means two sessions in one week. We are "allowed" off for vacation with long notice.

This like a reasonable policy to me. Without this policy, they schedule a therapist (and pay him or her) for an hour's work, but then the patient doesn't show up so the OD eats the loss. With this policy, you can take the time off with notice, but having a few "make-ups" on the schedule allows them to fill any slots opened up by others making similar requests.

 

We were aware of the in-home software, but our optometrist, who provides it, thought that ds's problems were too severe and that he wouldn't profit from it. It was a $500 pkg. including the eval and follow up office progress evals.

If the computer program worked as well as in-office therapy for most issues, your regular OD (or a competitor) likely would have set up such a practice. The fact that you can't find one indicates that such practices don't succeed, at least not for long. The owner of the practice I'm familiar with said that they've found that computer-only therapy doesn't "stick" so patients revert to having problems. Computers are used in the practice, but only as part of the therapy, and a relatively minor part at that, it appears to me.

 

I understand that people find VT to be expensive, but running a professional operation in any field is expensive. In my opinion, the answer to this is two-fold, move VT into schools (under the guidance of a developmental OD, like we do speech and OT work) and convince more medical insurers that it's cost effective in the long run to pay for VT. In fact, I believe that if schools paid for VT, it would be cost effective in the long run, given the current expense of special ed, LD and resource rooms. A lot of this could be avoided if we'd figure out that the majority of the kids getting these services have untreated vision issues. The answer will never lie in asking professionally-trained optometrists to provide reduced-rate services across the board. Instead, we just wouldn't have any vision therapy at all, and that really would be a travesty for the kids affected.

 

Just my opinion,

Rod