photo credit: Fatback[Dale]
So many of us take our vision for granted. We enjoy seeing a child smile, a dog playing, the sun setting on another day, and the stars coming out at night. What if this ability was slowly taken away? Not only would you miss seeing these things, but you would likely lose your job, your independence, and entire quality of life. Isn’t your vision worth a few dollars each month to ensure that you’ll be able to enjoy your eyesight into old age?
It’s vitally important to protect yourself with a vision insurance policy for more reasons than you might realize. If you’re a business owner, providing your employees with vision insurance can also save you money in the long run.
Eye Exams Can Detect Vision and Medical Conditions Early
Many debilitating eye conditions don’t exhibit any noticeable symptoms in their early stages. Most vision policies will cover the full cost of a comprehensive eye exam annually, making sure that these conditions can be caught early and treated before they start to affect your vision. What’s more, many people don’t realize that a comprehensive eye exam can also catch non-vision related health conditions, including diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis! With a simple visit covered by a vision insurance policy, these diseases could be diagnosed and managed before they become debilitating.
Insurance Gives You Access to the Best Care
Vision insurance providers work with a select few opticians, ophthalmologists and related professionals. This is because they know these doctors have the proper credentials to take care of their patients with a high level of professionalism and care, and their equipment is up-to-date. When you have a vision insurance policy, you will have access to these doctors and be assured you will receive the best care possible. If you do not have a vision policy, you can walk into any local shop and they’ll be happy to serve you, but you won’t be assured of the doctor’s degree of proficiency.
Vision Insurance Can Reduce Out-of-Pocket Expenses
A vision insurance policy can actually help you save money in a couple of ways. First, if you do not have insurance and find out you have a serious eye condition, it will be very expensive for you to pay for the medical treatments yourself out-of-pocket. This could quickly add up in the thousands of dollars. If you do not have the money, what will you do? Second, vision policies offer varying tiers of coverage for contact lenses, traditional lenses, and frames. If you break your glasses and don’t have vision insurance, you’ll have to come up with the cash to replace them yourself. If you have a vision policy, you could have a replacement pair within a day or two, and little or no out-of-pocket cash required. This is especially important if you have children on your vision policy, as they often break or misplace glasses frequently.
Vision Insurance Saves Employers Money, Too
There are a couple of ways that offering your employees vision coverage will save you money. First, if your employees begin to have problems with their eyesight that continue to go untreated, they will be less productive. They may work more slowly, begin to make mistakes that need to be corrected by other employees, or even begin to miss work due to migraines related to eyestrain. With a vision policy, they would be able to seek treatment right away and remain productive employees. Secondly, vision plans are one of the top five most sought-after health benefits that employees look for in a new job. By offering vision coverage, you will reduce turnover, and save money by retaining the employees you have instead of having to continually hire and re-train new staff.
Sara Roberts writes for Just Eyewear, a prescription glasses and sunglasses retailer.