05/08/2022 - 09:39
Health. A new social pricing system enables people referred by social services to purchase glasses and contact lenses at highly reduced prices.
The agreement with the Fundació Martí i Bonet led to 1,292 free visits to eye specialists for people referred by social services, with 907 pairs of glasses or contact lenses given over the last year. The figures triple those for 2020, when there were 415 visits and 365 sets of optical wear given. Women account for 55% of all visits, with 54% of users aged between 35 and 65.
Most prescriptions were for monofocal glasses (458), although highly graduated glasses were also given (203), as were progressive glasses (161) and, to lesser degree, rigid and soft contact lenses.
The new social pricing system has enabled people referred from social services to purchase glasses and contact lenses at highly reduced prices, for instance 20 euros for some monofocal glasses or 45 euros for some progressive ones. Even so, this year a quarter of those referred received treatment completely free of charge, a quarter paid part of the cost and 50% paid for their treatment thanks to the price reduction applied by the Fundació.
In the first six months of this year, the City Council devoted 7,000 euros to help people with the cost of glasses and contact lenses. The agreement with the Fundació Ramon Martí i Bonet does not establish a threshold for the number of referrals, although taking into account the figures for the last six months, estimates for the annual volume put the number of referrals at 1,300, with nearly 1,600 visits and 1,000 pairs of glasses or lenses given.
