How To Get Free Prescription Glasses

Did you know that 11 million Americans suffer from uncorrected vision and lack the financial means to get eyeglasses? Even worse, untreated eyesight impairments make it more difficult to escape poverty. There are various ways to get free prescription glasses. The article below will discuss how to receive free eyeglasses and eye exams. We will also talk about companies and organizations that offer free eye care and low-cost services.

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Here is a list of 6 organizations that assist in getting free or low-cost eye exams and glasses below.

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• How To Get Free Prescription Glasses
  • 1. New Eyes For The Needy
  • 2. American Academy Of Ophthalmology
  • 3. InfantSEE Health Initiative
  • 4. Sight For Students
  • 5. The Lions Club SightFirst Program
  • 6. Eyes of Hope
• Related Questions
  • How Often Should You Replace Your Glasses?
  • What Happens When You Break NHS Glasses?
  • Can You Get Free Contact Lenses?

Key Takeaways

• Low-income people, children, and older folks can get vision help through community organizations and public health programs. There are enough resources available that the cost of getting your eyes checked should not be a deterrent.
• Routine vision services, such as eyeglasses and contact lenses are typically not covered by Medicare. There are certain exceptions, such as if you get enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan that includes vision coverage (Part B).
• Children with normal vision can usually focus on objects an inch or two away from their eyes, but this ability fades as they grow older. Almost everyone requires glasses to read newspapers or thread needles by the age of 50.

How To Get Free Prescription Glasses

Optometrists may offer free eye exams more frequently. Still, they may not be as thorough as an exam performed by an ophthalmologist utilizing the most up-to-date technology and testing protocols. Some techniques, like pupil dilation or retinal photography, can be more expensive. Your eye doctor may perform additional specialist imaging tests to look for eye disorders and other concerns.

Tests relating to contact lens fitting and prescriptions may necessitate additional procedures, and as a result, they are sometimes more expensive. Through a voucher program, New Eyes for the Needy purchases new prescription eyeglasses for low-income people in the United States.

To see if you qualify for some of these organizations, look at the Poverty Guidelines site:

https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines

1. New Eyes For The Needy

• Offers Free Services: Yes
• Restricted To A Certain Age And Or Group: No
• At or Under 200% of Federal Poverty Level guidelines: Yes

New Eyes has given clear eyesight to over 10 million people in the United States and worldwide since 1932. With the essential yet straightforward eyeglasses tool, New Eyes affects the lives of children and adults facing financial difficulties across the United States.

Clients can show a New Eyes eyeglass voucher to several participating local eye physicians, stores, or optical dispensers after applying for assistance and receiving a voucher. These sites will then fit you with the appropriate prescription eyeglasses provided to you free of charge.

You must have recently had an eye exam to qualify for New Eyes because New Eyes does not pay for eye tests. It would help if you had no other means of paying for eyeglasses, such as federal or state programs or assistance from local charitable groups.

https://new-eyes.org/

2. American Academy Of Ophthalmology

• Offers Free Services: Yes
• Restricted To A Certain Age And Or Group: Yes (The Seniors Program for people 65 and older)
• At or Under 200% of Federal Poverty Level guidelines: Yes

AAO (American Academy Of Ophthalmology) is the company that runs Eye Care America. They offer medical eye exams at low or no cost to the patient. For the physician services, the Seniors Program connects qualified people 65 and older with volunteer ophthalmologists who provide a medical eye exam often at no cost to the patient and one year of follow-up care for any disease discovered during the first exam.

Suppose you were a Seniors Program participant and need a re-referral to a different ophthalmologist for specialty care. In that case, you or the EyeCare America volunteer ophthalmologist must contact EyeCare America to continue receiving care via the program.

You can receive a free glaucoma eye checkup if you are eligible and uninsured through the Glaucoma Program. Those qualified and insured will get billed as usual and responsible for any co-pays. (This is a public awareness campaign to provide a baseline glaucoma eye checkup to people unaware they are at risk.)

https://www.aao.org/eyecare-america

3. InfantSEE Health Initiative

• Offers Free Services: Yes
• Restricted To A Certain Age And Or Group: Yes (Babies between 6 – 12 months)
• At or Under 200% of Federal Poverty Level guidelines: Yes

According to a study by the National Eye Institute, even the most sophisticated vision screening tools, delivered by the most highly-trained vision screeners, overlook one-third of children with an eye or vision impairment. InfantSEE offers early intervention through specialized equipment and procedures that don’t get included in vision tests.

During an InfantSEE assessment, a doctor will test for excessive or unequal quantities of nearsightedness, farsightedness, eye movement ability, astigmatism, and eye health problems. Comprehensive eye and vision care are critical for detecting abnormalities early on and ensuring that babies develop the visual skills to grow and learn.

https://www.infantsee.org/

4. Sight For Students

• Offers Free Services: Yes
• Restricted To A Certain Age And Or Group: Yes (For low-income, Uninsured students)
• At or Under 200% of Federal Poverty Level guidelines: Yes

Sight for Students is a Vision Service Plan (VSP) nonprofit that provides low-income, uninsured children with free eye screenings and spectacles. The program gets administered across the country via community partners who identify children in need and VSP network doctors who provide eyecare. Sight for Students provides a free complete checkup and corrective lenses to over 50,000 students each year.

These youngsters would not otherwise have access to the eyecare and eyeglasses they require to excel in school and at play. VSP created Sight for Students in 1997 and was one of the founding members of America’s Promise, a coalition of organizations dedicated to assisting our country’s kids.

https://oklahoma.aoa.org/

5. The Lions Club SightFirst Program

• Offers Free Services: Yes
• Restricted To A Certain Age And Or Group: Yes (SightFirst Focuses on the underserved populations)
• At or Under 200% of Federal Poverty Level guidelines: Yes

Lions Club International provides financial help for eye exams and other eye care services to those who qualify. The SightFirst program has been a critical component in reducing global blindness by developing comprehensive and sustainable eye care systems.

SightFirst grants have helped Lions, health care practitioners, and partner organizations worldwide tackle the principal causes of preventive and reversible blindness and blind or visually impaired people since 1990. Over the last 30 years, more than 488 million people have received help, but millions more still need assistance.

https://www.lionsclubs.org/en

6. Eyes of Hope

• Offers Free Services: Yes
• Restricted To A Certain Age And Or Group: No
• At or Under 200% of Federal Poverty Level guidelines: Yes

VSP Eyes of Hope dedicated themselves to expanding access to eye care and eyeglasses in areas most needed. VSP Eyes of Hope full coverage gift cards provide no-cost eye treatment and prescription glasses to people in need. Individuals who already have routine eye exam coverage but no coverage for glasses or lenses might opt for materials-only gift certificates.

Disaster relief gift cards cover the cost of eye care and new glasses for community members who have been affected by a disaster.

https://vspglobal.com/cms/vspglobal-outreach/home.html

Related Questions

Here are a few related questions you may have:

How Often Should You Replace Your Glasses?

Depending on your prescription, optometrists recommend replacing your glasses every three years. This time limit may be decreased depending on the condition of your lenses and any changes in your prescription.

What Happens When You Break NHS Glasses?

A dispensing optician or an optometrist should fit the frame for you. What if the glasses are misplaced or broken? Return as soon as possible to the optician who has your original voucher and can use an NHS repair/replacement voucher (GOS4) to help pay for the replacement.

Can You Get Free Contact Lenses?

You may also get free contact lenses by visiting any participating eye doctor, who will assess if ACUVUE Brand Contact Lenses are appropriate for you. Trial lenses are available while supplies last.