Overcoming objections

[optical24/7]

What about when the patient is educated and picks out options not covered in full by their insurance and is made aware of the cost but when the glasses come in they act like this is new to them. Had a patient do this this week, I know I walked them through each item (lens, AR, material, etc.) and told the cost to him which is dictated by his insurance and educated him on why he would benefit from these things. This patient really looked me dead in the face and called me a liar, said I never told him he would have to pay for these options and that he has never had to pay anything before for his glasses(wouldn't tell us where he used to go). The dang glasses have already been made with the non covered options he picked out (tried saying I picked everything and they had no input) and the claim has already been done. what would ya'll do in this situation?

You didn’t collect fees at checkout? Your fault.

[optical24/7]

[QUOTE=DanLiv;576055

….If a customer opens with "just what my insurance covers", I begin a discussion about why we do not provide the only basic eyewear covered by their plan…..[/QUOTE]

It’s been a long time since I took insurance, but they used to mandate that you carry at least some inventory of “covered” items, (like frames). How do you get around this, or do they no longer require participants to carry those?

[drk]

Last time I checked, they did, but it was long ago. Even had a minimum amount.

I think you have to have something. Heck, sometimes you have to beg people to use their benefits, and having some totally covered materials gives you a few more pennies.

[dwlk]

What about when the patient is educated and picks out options not covered in full by their insurance and is made aware of the cost but when the glasses come in they act like this is new to them. Had a patient do this this week, I know I walked them through each item (lens, AR, material, etc.) and told the cost to him which is dictated by his insurance and educated him on why he would benefit from these things. This patient really looked me dead in the face and called me a liar, said I never told him he would have to pay for these options and that he has never had to pay anything before for his glasses(wouldn't tell us where he used to go). The dang glasses have already been made with the non covered options he picked out (tried saying I picked everything and they had no input) and the claim has already been done. what would ya'll do in this situation?

this is why we require half down before we start them

[dwlk]

Last time I checked, they did, but it was long ago. Even had a minimum amount.

I think you have to have something. Heck, sometimes you have to beg people to use their benefits, and having some totally covered materials gives you a few more pennies.

we dont have anything thats "fully covered" but we do have frames for $60 w/o a warranty and/or value packages for those w/o ins

[drk]

That should cover it on all plans.

[DanLiv]

It’s been a long time since I took insurance, but they used to mandate that you carry at least some inventory of “covered” items, (like frames). How do you get around this, or do they no longer require participants to carry those?

You are correct they do still mandate 100 frames available that are covered, so I do have those. Luckily the frame reimbursements aren't SO low that you have to provide crap, you can get plenty of decent frames. Though frames I find it's easiest to interest customers in upgrading, because that's more the "want" than the "need" portion. Lenses have no stipulations on minimum or type of product provided.

[Brea]

You didn’t collect fees at checkout? Your fault.

I tried, when I told the patient his total he said "okay just call me when they come in" and promptly walked right out. I typically get at least half of the total before they leave if not the full payment, this was the first time anyone has just thought they could walk out. He is willing to pay for them fortunately after we had to talk him through why he has a balance at all, but man this guy threw us for a loop. Maybe we need to put a sign out saying something like "payment or partial payment for glasses is mandatory before the order will be put in"

[optical24/7]

Insurance reimbursement is so small, you have to go to a policy of “Payment required at time of service”. If you don’t want to be the bad guy, throw it on their insurance, that THEY require copayments prior to starting a custom pair of glasses.

Private pay you can go to 50% required to start an Rx, but it’s always better to let them know the total, then ask, how they would like to pay. Let them ask for a deposit, then, it’s 50%.

[drk]

Optical 24/7 for the win. Perfect advice.

[iD]

You are correct they do still mandate 100 frames available that are covered, so I do have those. Luckily the frame reimbursements aren't SO low that you have to provide crap, you can get plenty of decent frames. Though frames I find it's easiest to interest customers in upgrading, because that's more the "want" than the "need" portion. Lenses have no stipulations on minimum or type of product provided.

just curious as to what frames you provide that are covered? I'm assuming everyone goes with Modern Optical. There are insurances that do cover everything those are rare but they are out there. Most likely its jobs from Safeway or WalGreens/CVS that cover alot.

[rosesformonsters]

We have nothing in the shop where I work that would be 100% covered by any insurance. Any time a customer tells me they only want what is covered by the insurance, I don't hesitate to tell them that their insurance will not fully cover anything.

There's no point in having them pick out frames, get fitted, write up an invoice, and waste their time and mine when I quote them a price they don't want to pay because they expected to pay nothing out of pocket.

[Elvis Is Alive]

just curious as to what frames you provide that are covered? I'm assuming everyone goes with Modern Optical. There are insurances that do cover everything those are rare but they are out there. Most likely its jobs from Safeway or WalGreens/CVS that cover alot.

Modern is a popular one. There are tons of cheap frame options out there. Previous employer used to carry lots of Europa product across 6 locations. We would get the Elements frame line for free with a large enough purchase of other frame lines. We use a local vendor here for budget packages, Visual Eyes Eyewear.

[iD]

We have nothing in the shop where I work that would be 100% covered by any insurance. Any time a customer tells me they only want what is covered by the insurance, I don't hesitate to tell them that their insurance will not fully cover anything.

There's no point in having them pick out frames, get fitted, write up an invoice, and waste their time and mine when I quote them a price they don't want to pay because they expected to pay nothing out of pocket.

some offices I worked for would prefer you don't tell them insurance details (frame allowances) or frame prices upfront and then when you go over lens options and give them the total balance the patient starts taking things off or switch out frame. who buys stuff without knowing prices (I'm assuming billionaires but none of us are fitting those clients)? It just creates extra work and you waste your time.

[KrystleClear]

Don't argue and don't show any negative emotion. I do still offer and explain what each lens feature, like AR, does and why I recommend it. With Transitions, I do make sure to let people know they have improved them a lot especially with the new Gen S and they change faster now, and come in a wider variety of colors. I try not to be pushy. If they say no, I move on. Sometimes people just cannot afford to spend more on their eyeglasses and that's okay. They will appreciate a friendly helpful optician nonetheless. I have had a lot of patients tell me they felt swindled and taken advantage of at other opticals and that the optician was too pushy. It drives people to go online. Educate them and show them the value of the lens options and if they say no still, then that's all you can do. Glasses are something you wear all the time and lenses can improve quality of life when the investment is made.

And phrasing goes a long way. I don't take insurance anymore, but when I did, I would say "Your insurance contributes X amount towards your frames, etc" I tried to avoid saying your insurance "covers" anything.

And like others said, if they want bare minimum, show them budget frames and use stock lenses so you can still have some profit margin.