Vision Care Insurance

What are you engaged in right now? Breathing, listening, tapping your leg, telling the dog to shut-up. Oh, and one more likely thing ... seeing. Vision is vital, vision is important, vision adds a marvelous component to our lives and those of us who are blessed to be able to see should thank their lucky stars. Many are born or robbed of their vision and putting yourself in their shoes is a humbling experience.

So now that we've established how important and cherished sight is, how do we ensure it sticks around for the long-term? One way is to insure (not ensure) your eyes. This is known as vision care insurance, and most plans will cover routine eye health experiences that range from eyeglass lenses and frames, eye exams, contact lenses and contact lens fittings. Compared to other types of insurance, vision care insurance tends to be inexpensive. Many of the costs are very predictable and expensive claims which are commonplace with other types of medical procedures are quite rare. This is a positive when it comes to the cost component, and vision care insurance from a practical side resembles a discount plan more than a true insurance plan. Insurance is geared at protecting you from the catastrophic, and thankfully vision related incidents rarely get deadly.

Before analyzing plans however, it’s important to key in on the costs of a 1-year plan for example compared to what it would cost for an eye exam. Vision care insurance is inexpensive, but if the premiums and co-payments are much higher than say the costs of paying for expenses out of pocket, well that isn't exactly worth it. Eye diseases would normally be covered by health insurance, not vision insurance, so in these instances it isn't really necessary. It’s important to understand this because serious, “medical” related vision incidents will likely be covered by your pre-existing health plan. Although there are exceptions.  

As we age however, we need more frequent vision exams and here is where vision care insurance will make financial sense. Prior to retirement vision care insurance can often be acquired through a company health plan or government plans such as Medicaid and Medicare. These are excellent options for older populations. For the rest of us however, thankfully a plethora of options exist. One such offer is VSP Direct. Offered by nearly 36,000 eye care providers throughout the U.S., one can purchase a plan via an employee group plan or individually. Standard coverage addresses many eye care needs, and there is even an allowance for LASIK surgery procedures.

Another solid choice is EyeBenefits. Most traditional plans are paid monthly, while EyeBenefits premiums are yearly. The company applies no caps on the number of times their coverage can be used throughout the year, and coverage can also be purchased in distinct increments (one to three years). Vision Plan of America offers some eye-popping rates, super reasonable but most folk’s network providers are strapped because the policyholder can only select one eye care provider per plan. But if you can get locked in with a good one, then Vision Plan of America is one of the cheapest out there.

The list goes on from here, but we beg you – consider vision care insurance. You wouldn’t be reading this without those precious eyes of yours. Take care of them!