The need for – and lack of – vision coverage

According to the Vision Council of America, a nonprofit trade group supported by the optical industry, 75 percent of American adults use some form of vision correction. And the National Eye Institute, a division of the taxpayer-funded National Institutes of Health, says more than 150 million Americans use corrective eyewear. What’s more, in 2008, American adults spent upwards of $15 billion on eyewear.

That data may explain why so many large employers understand the value of vision protection in a comprehensive benefits package. In 2014, 63 percent of firms with 200+ employees coupled vision coverage with core benefits, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

That’s a notable number, perhaps even more so when compared with employers of fewer than 200 workers, only 34 percent of which offered or contributed to a vision benefits program.

All told, just 35 percent of all employers offered a vision benefit in addition to their core health plan — far less than the more than half of employers that offered dental coverage, says Kaiser.

Voluntary vision policies: A two-pronged solution

For the millions of bespectacled employees without vision protection, chances are they have a good idea of how much they spent on their last eye doctor visit.

Let’s assume a hypothetical uncovered employee purchased strictly based on price. Maybe they sought a two-for-one deal and skimped on their frame brand, but bought polycarbonate lenses to make their investment last. If they needed bifocal lenses, they probably spent $300 after a required eye exam — assuming they were price-conscious. Many uncovered participants might no doubt spend substantially more.

And what about employees with families? A family of five, two or three of whom need glasses, could easily spend four figures on a trip to the optometrist. Those very real, non-discretionary out-of-pocket costs compound the burden of the underinsured in our modern healthcare system.

For voluntary brokers, offering vision policies can be a two-pronged solution to addressing the twin challenges of delivering relevant voluntary options that also encourage employee enrollment.

The fact that a minority of employers offers vision protection underscores the practicality of building vision care into any effective voluntary selling strategy.

And for the tens of millions of employees who have borne those costs without insurance, voluntary vision polices could serve as a door-opener in the next enrollment season as they consider additional benefit options to cover other gaps.

Vision care as preventive care

In the past, insurers and employers considered vision care to be an essential part of comprehensive health care, said David Contorno, president of North Carolina-based Lake Norman Benefits. That’s all changed.

“With the increasing pressure on health insurance rates over the past couple of decades, vision insurance was the first to be tossed aside or moved to 100 percent employee-paid,” he said.

What’s more, when brokers and employers do offer vision benefits, the option tends to only attract the attention of workers who already wear glasses, Contorno added.

“The effect has been a litany of unnoticed or undiagnosed eye health issues that can be a precursor to much larger health problems,” he said. “And that is affecting overall health care costs and employer premiums.”

For diseases like glaucoma – one of the leading causes of preventable blindness — early detection can prevent total or significant vision impairment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Regular eye exams can also detect and treat other costly health conditions, such as hypertension, high blood pressure and migraines – conditions which can affect the overall productivity and absenteeism of employees.

But many employers simply may not grasp the connection between vision care and health care, regardless of the growing awareness of how workplace wellness programs can impact the cost of health insurance.

While sponsors may suffer a knowledge gap on the value of vision benefits as a preventive health care tool, other more well-known conditions have symptoms and complications that affect vision. For instance, by 2025, 21 of every 100 employees are expected to have diabetes – a 64 percent increase from 2010, according to the Institute for Alternative Futures, an advocacy for sustainable health solutions. And diabetes, gone unchecked, can lead to diabetic retinopathy -- the leading cause of new blindness in adults, according to the CDC. Using data such as this in the workplace can go a long way toward showing how affordable vision coverage can offset a barrage of associated costs.

Employers stand to shoulder much of the cost burden of untreated conditions and their vision-associated complications. Preventive care delivered through the workplace can offset those costs – but in order to do so, brokers will need to educate employers and employees on the necessity of vision care, not just for those with impaired vision, but as a natural part of every worker’s health checkup.