FREQUENTLY ASKED BENEFITS QUESTIONS

Q:  Dear Expert,

Why do most vision care plans provide such restricted coverage, such as $200 every 24 months? Every time my fellow employees and I ask to increase the coverage, we always get the same response: no. What’s the deal?

Signed,
Blurry Vision

A:  Dear Blurry Vision,

In my experience, this is one of the most common questions asked by plan members. Why, I do not know except that vision care is a high profile benefit used by a significant portion of every employee population. What I do know is why the answer is commonly, no. The reason is cost and affordability. From a cost perspective, vision care is one of the only benefits where you can accurately predict usage and resulting costs. Why is because every person who wears glasses or contacts and has a vision care plan, claims the maximum benefit at every allowable interval. It is therefore an expensive benefit only used by a certain portion of the population — not insurance by any traditional definition. From the perspective of affordability, eyewear comes in all different price ranges and styles, the choice of which is yours. If you eliminate a vision care plan, in the vast majority of circumstances, people could easily afford the costs of their own eyewear. From the plan sponsor’s perspective, most vision plans don’t cover 100% of your costs, like many other aspects of your benefit plan. As benefit plans in their entirety are costly products to provide, a smart plan sponsor knows there is only so much money to go around and more vision care coverage may be low on the list of important things to fund under the plan — things that aren’t affordable to most people. So, consider the big picture when thinking about asking for more vision care. Saying no often means more important and unaffordable protection is a priority — something you will be thankful for when you need it.

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