The Vision Program covers:
- Comprehensive exams
- Emergency exams
- Follow up exams (subject to prior approval)
- Selected frames
- Corrective lenses
- Cases
This program does not cover:
- Progressive bifocal or trifocal lenses
- Intraocular or trifocal lenses
- Tinted or photochromic lenses (transition lenses)
- Cosmetic items
- Ineligible frames
- Medical or surgical eye treatment
- Replacement of lost or broken frames or lenses
- Vision aids
- Contact lenses
Please note:
- You are eligible once every two years, however if you have been diagnosed with diabetes you are entitled to receive a comprehensive exam yearly.
- There is no client participation fee for eligible clients for any services or benefits that are listed in the service agreement.
- The department won’t reimburse you for vision services you pay for.
Make an appointment with an optometrist who accepts Social Development Health Cards and agrees to bill according to the agreement between Social Development and the New Brunswick Association of Optometrists. You will have to ask the optometrist if this is the case.
You will need to present your Health Card to confirm your eligibility.
The optometrist will test your eyes. They will give you a prescription for your glasses and bill Health Services directly for the testing.
You can have the optometrist fill your prescription for the glasses or you can take it to an optician who is registered with the New Brunswick Guild of Dispensing Opticians to have it filled.
If your glasses are a regular benefit, the optometrist or optician will provide them to you and bill Health Services directly. If special approval is required, they must get approval from Health Services first, before they can provide your glasses.