Driver’s License Renewal by Mail

Every aspect of the American healthcare system is being asked to perform more and more work at less and less reimbursement.  We recognize the need to tighten belts and have done so as best we can.  Specifically, the South Carolina Highway Department made a ruling several years ago that allows for eye care professionals to ascertain the legality of their patients’ driving abilities (considering cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc.).  This served to cut in excess of $1,000,000 from the work efforts of the Highway Department.  However, it subsequently and consequently added to work loads in eye care offices throughout the state, including Jervey Eye Group.

If a highway form is requested during the course of an examination, we do not charge for filling out the form.  However, we have found that it takes labor to pull a patient’s chart, to fill out the appropriate paper work, and to find a physician who can ascertain it from a legal standpoint and to sign and take responsibility for the document.  The $15.00 charge is for any patient who requests outside of the examination but within one year of the time of the examination to have the form completed.  If it has been over a year since the exam, the South Carolina Highway Department requires the visual acuity be verified prior to the physician signing the form; the charge for having the form filled out when the acuity is being reevaluated is $20.00.  Parenthetically, Jervey Eye Group does not charge for phone calls or prescription refills, although indeed we are legally allowed to do so, and have had several consultants recommend that we do so.  We try to keep our charges reasonable and certainly do not want to be seen as frivolous.

We are delighted to do our part in partnering with the South Carolina Highway Department in keeping our highways safe.  The cost of license renewal by mail, when the $15.00 Jervey Eye Group fee is considered, totals $27.50 which includes the $12.50 total charge to the South Carolina Highway Department for the renewal.  So, that $27.50 total charge extends your driver’s license form for a period of at least five and sometimes ten years.  The alternative is to go to the Highway Department and do the visual screening in person after waiting in line, and the charge by the South Carolina Highway Department for this total service is $25.00 (when done in person).  Therefore, there is a great convenience in renewal by mail and it costs just a tiny bit more for that convenience.  At Jervey Eye Group, we do over 2,000 of these renewals yearly, and it requires the equivalent of a fulltime staff member to complete these forms and to return them to you in a timely fashion.

Thanks for understanding and allowing us to serve you.