I went into Dr Ballard's office with the express condition that my new vision insurance limited what I could spend and not wanting to have a large out of pocket expense, surprising. I was given tests that were not covered by insurance without knowledge or choice; some retinal photo for $45 that is refused by insurance.\r
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In conversation with Dr Ballard I mentioned, again, my desire to keep expenses low and he told me my new contact brand would come to $20 per year after my insurance. When I returned for a recheck before ordering this new brand I was told ""He doesn't know anything about our billing or prices"" when faced with another $130 bill or only a 6 month supply. \r
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I'd done my research and found the same brand on contactlensking com, with 1800contacts com matching prices, free shipping and beating it by 2%. Dr Ballard himself told me ""They must get their contacts from some black market since they are lower than cost"". The office staff said they couldn't match that price but offered to drop their price to $50 per box, still $18 per box higher than the online price I'd found. I said thank you but no I would order online and asked for a prescription.\r
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When I ordered I had to pay out of pocket for reimbursement only to find that Dr Ballard's office had charged my vision insurance anyway, despite telling me they would either not charge or reverse the charges and had already received a check! I called the vision insurance, EyeMed who are all very pleasant and gave me everything I would need to get reimbursed and told me when to expect a check or to call back, 10-14 days.\r
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In closing I never had issue with Dr Ballard matching prices or the office experience until changing my prescription to something with a higher cost. My suggestion is this, go in for an exam but get your glasses or contacts somewhere else; Unless, of course, you would prefer to pay nearly double for your vision products.
Pros: Convenient, great doctor care
Cons: Refusal to match online prices, bills you for procedures you are not told would be billable, bills insurance for services not rendered.
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