A study by the Eye Disease Prevalence Research Group, for example, predicts that by the year 2020, the number of Americans age 40 and over who suffer from low vision and blindness will rise by a whopping 67 percent, to 5.5 million. The study reinforces the critical importance of annual comprehensive eye examinations in preventing and/or delaying eye diseases, as well as diabetes. The workplace productivity impact of eye disease and diabetes perhaps goes without saying.

Role of creativity

Some carriers let employers who already offer a dental benefit (but no vision benefit) give employees access, through large existing provider networks, to discounted vision exams, contact and eyeglass lenses, frames and other products. Since group vision benefits are still relatively uncommon and therefore most employees are accustomed to paying full retail prices for products and services, access to discounted networks is a valuable benefit. (Network discounts on vision products and services are typically in the 15 percent to 20 percent range, and often higher.) In addition, employees may access these networks without co-pays, deductibles or ID cards; they simply pay discounted bills directly to the providers. Thus employers are able to make this benefit available to employees without adding to their own administrative burdens.

But since such programs are offered as an add-on to an existing dental benefit plan, brokers and benefits managers must be satisfied with the value, quality and flexibility of the dental plan itself. The good news there is that progressive carriers have been enhancing the designs of their dental plans.

Beyond use-it-or-lose-it

One illustration, dental rollover accounts, are now available that allow employees to escape the restrictive use-it-or-lose-it financial trap of traditional insurance products. These rollover plans let employees hang on to a portion of their unused annual dental benefit accumulations, rewarding long-term employees and encouraging the fiscally prudent use of dental benefit dollars. Accumulations in rollover accounts can provide a significant financial benefit when an employee requires a major dental procedure. (One carrier, for example, began offering such a product, known as the "Maximum Rollover Account," in 2004 to groups with as few as 10 members.)

An additional example of the kind of creative dental product designs that creates value for small and mid-sized employers is one allowing plan members to switch, as often as monthly, between a carrier's dental PPO and HMO plans. While one might expect underwriting considerations to preclude that degree of flexibility, such a product exists. Yet another example is a dental plan that covers implant procedures, instead of merely covering conventional bridges. Interestingly, the dental insurance industry as a whole has taken its time to update policies to reflect the dental profession's shift to implants.

But some carriers do indeed now cover dental implants. There is always a risk for insurance companies, however, of going overboard in offering a rapid stream of new products. New doesn't necessarily mean creative useful.

Carriers, of course, must balance between product designs and cost concerns, and between frantic innovation and simple stodginess. Brokers and benefits managers can profit by seeking out carriers that have found the right balance.