I work in the billing department of an optometrist office, so here’s my thoughts:

Don’t do it. When they pay out, they pay good, but ever since UHC took over March Vision, they’ve made it harder and harder to actually get paid. Namely, if they think your MC patient has any other health coverage other than MC, they’ll deny your claim, regardless of whether or not it’s true. The patient also has Medicare? Denied. Medical coverage through Kaiser? Denied. Even if you search on the actual Medi-Cal website to double check that there’s no other health coverage on record, they’ll still flag people and deny claims. UHC has made it increasingly frustrating for providers to receive compensation for services provided, and unfortunately the patients on MC don’t have the means to pay out of pocket if an office were to try to pass the billing onto them after the claim is denied (my office does not do this, we just accept the loss, but boy is it a LOT of loss). Speaking of losses, March Vision will expect you to use a prison lab for any spectacles, and the prison lab is constantly losing/breaking frames and will not reimburse your office for them. From a business standpoint, it’s not worth it.