What is Aetna?
Founded in 1853, Aetna is a prominent US-based healthcare benefits company that forms part of the CVS Health corporation. With approximately 39 million members, Aetna empowers individuals to make informed decisions for their medical care. Committed to simplifying the healthcare system, Aetna aims to enhance convenience and accessibility for all.
The carrier is committed to exploring innovative methods to encourage healthy and affordable living for all. This commitment drives Aetna to establish connections and collaborations and provide unparalleled customer care and support.
What insurance plans and services does Aetna offer? How many people benefit from its services?
Aetna is one of the country's largest health insurance providers, serving approximately 39 million individuals. Together with CVS Health, Aetna offers health insurance and services to employers and organizations, individuals and families, and eligible low-income children, adults, seniors, pregnant people, and people with disabilities.
Aetna's products and services include:
- Medical, pharmacy, and dental plans
- Medicare plans, including Medicare Advantage plans
- Medicaid services
- Behavioral health programs
- Medical management
- Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans
- Student plans
Who is an eye doctor?
An eye doctor is a physician who treats eye-related issues. One can see an eye doctor for various conditions, ranging from severe infections to sight or vision problems.
Typically, there are three kinds of eye care professionals with varying training and expertise - opticians, optometrists, or ophthalmologists. Depending on the nature of the eye problem, each of these specialists provides a different type of care.
What are the different types of eye care specialists, and what do they do?
- Optometrists: Optometrists examine the eyes for abnormalities and offer primary eye care. Unlike ophthalmologists, optometrists attend optometry school and not a medical school and obtain a four-year degree in optometry.
They can conduct eye exams, perform specialized surgical procedures, detect certain eye irregularities, conduct vision tests, etc. In addition to this, they also provide visual rehabilitation and prescribe corrective lenses. The drugs that optometrists can prescribe are decided by each state's state board of optometry. A few states in the United States also allow optometrists to perform laser surgeries.
- Ophthalmologists: These eye care specialists study and treat various eye disorders and diseases. Unlike opticians, ophthalmologists must attend medical school and have at least eight years of medical school training. To practice and perform surgeries, ophthalmologists need to hold a license.
They can perform eye surgeries and diagnose and treat all eye problems. Some ophthalmologists also specialize in subspecialties, where they study and become experts on certain parts of the eye. They can be glaucoma specialists, neurology specialists, pediatric specialists, cornea specialists, retina specialists, etc. From optic nerve issues to detached retinas, ophthalmologists can treat many eye-related problems.
- Opticians: This is an eye care specialist trained to help people find the perfect visual aid. Sometimes, opticians rely on prescriptions from an ophthalmologist or an optometrist to verify if the person needs visual aids.
Unlike an ophthalmologist or an optometrist, opticians cannot treat eye conditions and eyesight issues or prescribe drugs. Opticians help you find the perfect eyeglasses and contact lenses to correct your eyesight.
What are some common eye issues that an eye specialist can treat?
Common eye problems that may necessitate a visit to an eye care specialist include:
- Refractive errors: One of the most common eye concerns Americans experience is refractive errors. Struggling with poor vision problems like myopia (near-sightedness), hyperopia, astigmatism (distorted vision at all distances), etc., is common. People experiencing these issues might have to see an optician or an optometrist (both in some cases). Prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery can correct refractive error issues.
- Conjunctivitis: Conjunctivitis is a prevalent condition caused by infections in the thin outermost membrane surrounding the eyeball. It is also known as pink eye and is highly contagious. In this condition, the eyes often appear pink and inflamed. In addition to this, the eyes also discharge watery substances and feel very itchy. Conjunctivitis can also be due to allergies and is of three types - bacterial, viral, and allergic.
- Cataract: Another common eye problem in America, as well as the world, is cataracts. A person who has cataracts might become partially or entirely blind. In this condition, a grayish cloud-like layer is formed in the eye's lens, making the vision blurry. Typically, in such cases, an ophthalmologist will remove the lens and replace it with an artificial one to treat cataracts.
- Amblyopia: Amblyopia is a common vision impairment problem in children. The condition is also called lazy eye. In such cases, the vision of one of the eyes becomes impaired or reduced. This condition occurs due to poor coordination between the eye and the brain. People suffering from amblyopia often have an imbalance in their vision, causing them to favor one eye over another.
- Glaucoma: It is a severe eye problem that causes damage to the eye's optic nerve due to a gradual increase in the average fluid pressure inside the eyes. Glaucoma can often lead to blindness and vision impairment. In cases like these, seeing an ophthalmologist as soon as possible is necessary. Early treatment can slow down vision impairment and protect against vision loss.
Common eye tests and exams
The following are some eye tests commonly performed in a routine eye exam. Each test assesses a different aspect of your eyesight and eye health.
- Visual acuity test - You might know it as the "eye chart" test. During this exam, the eye care specialist asks you to identify a sequence of letters printed on a chart while standing around 20 feet away from it.
- Visual field test - It determines your field of vision in the immediate vicinity or what you can see without shifting your eyes. It also tests your peripheral vision.
- Visual refraction eye test - Refraction is how light waves bend, passing through your eye's cornea and lens. A refraction assessment lets your eye doctor determine if you need vision correction and the corrective lens prescription to provide you with the clearest vision.
- Glaucoma test - This test examines the pressure inside your eye, known as intraocular pressure. Non-contact tonometry is the most common test for eye pressure, in which a tonometer injects a puff of air into the eye to measure the pressure.
- Slit-lamp exam - In this test, your eye care specialist uses a slit lamp, a microscope that allows your doctor to examine the lens, cornea, iris, and anterior chamber of your eye using a bright light. When inspecting your cornea, your provider might use fluorescein dye eye drops. This orange dye aids your eye doctor in detecting minor scratches, scrapes, tears, foreign objects, or infections on your cornea.
Finding the best Aetna eye doctor near you in Manhattan, New York
Now that you have become aware of who eye doctors are and when to book one, the next step is to find an ophthalmologist that suits your needs perfectly. Zocdoc makes this easy for you. You can find a list of ophthalmologists on its convenient and user-friendly platform nearby. By entering the details of your residence, you can also carry out an area-specific search. You can also find practitioners that cater to your particular insurance plan.
Zocdoc allows you to find all relevant information about an ophthalmologist, such as their experience, qualifications, and licensure. You can also learn about their areas of expertise and the languages they speak. Through the verified and reliable reviews listed on Zocdoc, you can apprise yourself of the experiences of patients who received their treatment previously, which will help you make an informed decision. You can also find practitioners who are in your network. However, buying health insurance can seem like a challenging and tiresome task. If you are new to insurance and need guidance on commonly used insurance jargon, you can read Zocdoc's Health Insurance 101 guide.
Upon browsing to your satisfaction, you can book an in-person or virtual consultation with an Aetna eye doctor near you safely, securely, and at no additional cost!
Statistics on eye health in Manhattan, New York
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 12 million people aged 40 and over in the United States, including 1 million who are blind, 3 million with vision impairment after correction, and 8 million with uncorrected refractive error, experience vision impairment. There are close to 4.2 million Americans aged 40 and older with uncorrectable vision impairment, which includes 1.02 million who are blind. It is predicted that by 2050, this number could more than double to nearly 8.96 million due to factors like increasing diabetes, other chronic diseases, and our aging population.
Additionally, around 6.8% of children under 18 in the U.S. have been diagnosed with eye and vision conditions, with nearly 3% being blind or visually impaired, even with glasses or contact lenses.
In 2022, more Americans had health insurance (92.1%) compared to 2021 (91.7%), as the U.S. Census Bureau reported. However, an estimated 27.6 million American adults, or around 8.4%, did not have healthcare coverage at some point during the year.
Sources
Aetna
Aetna International
Aetna Medicare
WebMD
MedlinePlus
American Optometric Association
Cleveland Clinic
CareCredit
Medical News Today
Forbes Advisor
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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