The optometrist recommended seamless bifocals. I have a very painful nerve condition in my face (atypical trigeminal neuralgia), so this is what I need with glasses: the lightest weight frames possible- known as ultra light- with the lightest weight lenses possible and automatically darkening lenses so I don’t need the weight of sunglasses. The cheapest frames brought the total to $250 on the site the insurance worked with.
The frames are $20 on the cheap site. Everything else in the cost is the lenses.
As for why I have to buy them online- I don’t want anyone touching my face unless it’s absolutely necessary. The exam was painful enough.
American for-profit healthcare is fucking awesome.
When I’ve gone to America’s Best for an eye exam, yeah, they were none too happy when I wouldn’t also buy glasses from them, but I got my prescriptions to go. Fuck em. Didn’t have a single problem with the optometrist office in the Target. I’m also pretty sure that the optometry part and the retail frames and lenses part of these stores are at least somewhat separate from each other, business-wise.
The down side of the online “cheap glasses” places is that when your frames show up all bent and twisted, you have to adjust them yourself, and if there’s a problem with the lenses, that’s a whole thing. Buying from a storefront, they’ll handle all that for you. I’m capable of running my plastic frames under hot water to straighten them out and adjust them to my crooked head.