Pink Eye Treatment Cost

Typical costs:

• For patients covered by health insurance, out-of-pocket costs typically consist of doctor visit copays, prescription drug copays or coinsurance of 10%-50%. Treatment for pink eye typically is covered by insurance.
• For patients not covered by health insurance, treatment for pink eye can cost from $50 to almost $200 or more for an initial doctor visit. Treatment can cost less than $50 for cold compresses and artificial tears for viral pink eye. It can cost from less than $15-$120 or more for antibiotic eye drops for bacterial pink eye. And it can cost from less than $15 to $130 or more for antihistamine eye drops for allergy-related pink eye, and up to almost $4,000 for the first year, then up to $1,800 or more per year, for allergy shots.
• A doctor visit for pink eye costs about $65 at urgent care or up to $190 or more at an emergency room, according to Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield[1] mutual insurance company. Eastern Maine Medical Center[2] charges $50 for a visit for pink eye, while Physicians Urgent Care in Tennessee charges about $65 and The Little Clinic[3] urgent care center, with locations in six states including Arizona, Colorado, and Ohio, charges $79, plus possibly an additional $23 pink eye lab test fee. The Minute Clinic[4] at CVS pharmacy charges $99-$139 for the appointment and $25 for the test.
• For treatment, Drugstore.com[5] charges about $10-$20 for preservative-free artificial tears. And Drugstore.com[6] charges $3-$17 for cold compresses.
• Drugstore.com charges about $13 for a bottle of generic sulfacetamide sodium[7] antibiotic drops. It charges about $23 for a bottle of generic tobramycin sulfate[8] antibiotic drops, and about $73 for the brand-name equivalent, Tobrex[9] . It charges about $36-$70, depending on dose, for a bottle of generic tobramycin-dexamethasone, a combination antibiotic-corticosteroid eye drop, and $67-$123 for the brand-name equivalent, TobraDex[10] .
• Drugstore.com charges about $15 for a bottle of Zaditor[11] over-the-counter antihistamine eye drops. It charges about $32 per bottle for generic cromolyn sodium[12] prescription antihistamine eye drops. It charges about $130 per bottle for Patanol[13] prescription brand-name antihistamine eye drops. Or, allergy shots cost about $1,500-$3,900 for the first year, then $720 to $1,800 per year in subsequent years.

• First, the doctor will ask about symptoms and perform a visual exam to try to determine whether the pink eye is viral, bacterial or allergy-related[14] . In some cases, the doctor will take a sample of eye fluid for testing.
• For viral pink eye, the most common type, the doctor might recommend preservative-free artificial tears, cold compresses and rest. Patients should stay home from school or work, to avoid infecting others, until symptoms begin to clear, usually in a week or two.
• For bacterial pink eye, the doctor typically will prescribe antibiotic eye drops. Patients should stay home from school or work until symptoms begin to improve, typically in a day or two.
• For pink eye caused by allergies[15] , a doctor might recommend over-the counter or prescription allergy medicine, antihistamine eye drops, and/or allergy shots.
• WebMD offers an overview of pink eye[16] and treatment[17] .

• When a patient has bacterial or viral pink eye, AllAboutVision.com recommends[18] frequent hand washing and use of antiseptic solutions to clean tables, faucets and other household objects.
• It is necessary to discard all makeup that may have come into contact with an infected eye, and to purchase new products, to prevent reinfection.

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers a locator[19] for clinics that provide discounts on an income-based sliding scale.

• A family doctor, pediatrician or eye doctor can diagnose and treat pink eye. The American Medical Association offers a doctor locator[20] , and FindUrgentCare.com offers an urgent care center locator[21] . Or, the American Academy of Ophthalmology offers an ophthalmologist locator[22] .
• According to WebMD[23] , patients who do not use antibiotics recover almost as quickly from bacterial pink eye as those who do.
• In a guide to managing ocular allergies[24] , the Indiana University School of Optometry notes that topical allergy medications are more effective than oral, and many over-the-counter topical antihistamines are as effective as, and much less expensive than, their prescription counterparts.

1.  www.wellmark.com/HealthAndWellness/ChooseCare/TreatmentCosts/_EmergencyRoomCostsPr...
2.  www.emmc.org/wal-mart.aspx?id=59109
3.  www.thelittleclinic.com/treatmentsservices/Pages/SelectState.aspx?category=103
4.  www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists
5.  www.drugstore.com/personal-care/preservative-free--unit-dose/qxg184392-7bf3351
6.  www.drugstore.com/search/search_results.asp?Nao=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=All...
7.  www.drugstore.com/sulfacetamide-sodium/15ml-bottle-10-solution/qxn61314070101
8.  www.drugstore.com/tobramycin-sulfate/tobrex/5ml-bottle-0-3-solution/qxn24208029005
9.  www.drugstore.com/tobrex/5ml-bottle-0-3-solution/qxn00065064305
10.  www.drugstore.com/tobradex/2-5ml-bottle-0-3-0-1-suspension/qxn00065064725
11.  www.drugstore.com/search/search_results.asp?N=0&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial...
12.  www.drugstore.com/cromolyn-sodium/opticrom/10ml-bottle-4-solution/qxn00093138943
13.  www.drugstore.com/patanol/5ml-bottle-0-1-solution/qxn00065027105
14.  www.avclinic.com/conjuntivitis.htm
15.  www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/conjunctivitis
16.  www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview
17.  www.webmd.com/eye-health/understanding-conjunctivitis-treatment
18.  www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/conjunctivitis.htm
19.  findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/Search_HCC.aspx
20.  extapps.ama-assn.org/doctorfinder/recaptcha.jsp
21.  www.findurgentcare.com/
22.  www.aao.org/aao/find_eyemd.cfm
23.  www.webmd.com/eye-health/news/20060505/antibiotics-good-choice-for-pinkeye
24.  www.opt.indiana.edu/ce/allergy/tx.htm

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