|
Inside this Article
How To Choose a Vision Insurance
(Benefits) Plan
|
Sponsored
Links
|
If you are among the more than 50% of U.S. citizens who already wear
prescription glasses or contact lenses, you might consider taking
advantage of a plan offering vision benefits either through your
employer or directly from an insurance or vision benefits company.
|
Company owners looking for an affordable way to attract and retain
good employees also might think about adding vision coverage to
employee benefits packages.
Vision Insurance - What Kinds of Vision
Insurance Plans Are Available?
Vision insurance comes in the form of either a:
- vision benefits package or a
- vision discount plan.
A vision benefits package provides coverage for services
including eye exams in different ways, such as requiring a
co-payment from you at the time of service with the balance to be
paid by your plan. In a vision discount plan, you pay fully
for services but at a lower price that the network provider has
agreed to charge.
When you purchase vision insurance, whether it
is a benefits package or a discount plan, you buy two products:
Access to a network of eye care providers
who have agreed to give service at lower than retail prices, including
optometrists and ophthalmologists, eyeglass and contact lens
manufacturers, optical laboratories, and (possibly) LASIK and other
refractive surgeons.
Specific eye care services, such as eye exams and prescription
lenses.
Therefore, when choosing a vision insurance plan, you need to
evaluate both the eye care provider network and the services being
offered.
Vision Insurance - How To Evaluate Vision Benefits and
Vision Discount Plans
To evaluate vision benefits packages and vision discount
plans here is some important points.
- Which vision plan provides services that
best meet my needs?
- Which vision plan saves me the most money?
(Individuals and company representatives will, of course, have
different criteria when answering this question.)
- Are quality assurance mechanisms and
easy-to-follow grievance procedures in place?
To analyze different vision plans for coverage
as an individual, you first need to estimate your present and future eye
care needs. Begin by reviewing one or two years in your personal
records to find out what kinds of eye care services you and your family
members have used in the past and how many times these services were
used by each family member. This information will give you an idea of
what your future needs will be.
Basic services typically include an eye examination with dilation, an
eyeglass frame, a pair of eyeglass lenses (single, bifocal, and
trifocal, or other certain special designs), contact lenses, and LASIK
or PRK refractive surgery.
A list of value-added services that might be covered under vision
benefits could include progressive lenses, high-index lenses,
polarized lenses, polycarbonate lenses, plastic photosensitive lenses,
blended segment lenses, ultraviolet coating, and scratch-resistant
coating.
Sponsored
Links
|
