More people to be reimbursed for the cost of glasses from June

From 1 June, more people will be able to benefit from a refund for the cost of their glasses, the office of the federal health mininster Frank Vandenbroucke has announced.

Until now, the cost of glasses was reimbursed, regardless of age, from a dioptre of 8.25 – the strength of the lens needed. From now on, this threshold will be lowered to 7.75. In addition, for under-18s, and for over-65s, this threshold will increase from a dioptre of 8 to 7.5. Some 23,500 people are potentially affected by this change.

"Having good vision is essential at any age,” a spokesperson for the minister said. “Wrongly assigned glasses or no glasses at all for someone who needs them can lead to other health problems such as migraines. In the case of children, uncorrected or insufficiently corrected myopia can quickly have a significant impact on the pace of the school learning."

Every year, the refund for glasses in Belgium totals around €1.6 million.