Table of Contents
Key takeaways:
- Many employers don’t see the value of vision plans and decide against offering these benefits.
- It’s a mistake since vision plans make eye health more accessible, help catch health issues early, and support productivity at work.
- With VCD, you can offer prepaid plans that avoid the common pitfalls of traditional insurance and create more value for employers.
Do we even need a vision plan?
Many HR teams are question vision plan value. For many businesses, vision plans are the first thing to go when budget cuts loom or don’t even make it into the benefits package in the first place.
Overlooking these benefits is a mistake. Around 70% of Americans need vision correction of some kind, but many employers fail to see vision plans as essential benefits. For employees, it means paying more for eye health care or delaying care, which can hurt productivity.
Why Do Employers Overlook Vision Plan Value?
Employers often base benefit decision-making on upfront costs, but lack data on their ROI. It’s complex to track since many factors can affect retention and satisfaction.
On top of having limited performance data, employers see vision plans as lacking value because:
- They think only employees with glasses will use these benefits. It’s untrue; everyone needs an annual or bi-annual eye exam.
- Many HR teams choose between dental and vision plans, and often choose dental benefits because they don’t think vision issues are as problematic as dental ones.
- Some employers also believe employees can seek vision care and pay for it without realizing that eye health costs are going up. If an employee has to pay for eye health care entirely out of pocket, they’re more likely to delay seeing an optometrist and could suffer from lost productivity at work.
It’s also important to note that some HR teams have had bad experiences with traditional vision insurance. These plans often lack transparency and have coverage exclusions that result in high out-of-pocket costs and low satisfaction for employees. As a broker, you should acknowledge these challenges when you engage in vision plan education and guide employers toward alternatives like prepaid plans instead.
Once you know more about an employer’s past experience with vision plans, you can ask follow-up questions to better understand which misconceptions are keeping them from seeing the true value of vision plans—and debunk these beliefs with facts.
The Facts: How Do Vision Plans Create Value
Explaining vision plan value doesn’t have to be complicated. Vision plans make eye health accessible, and keeping up with eye exams has several benefits:
- For employees with glasses, keeping prescriptions up to date is crucial for comfort and productivity.
- Employees who don’t need glasses are more likely to seek care and catch eye health issues early if they have vision benefits. This means undiagnosed vision issues won’t get in the way of productivity.
- Eye exams can also spot early symptoms for a wide range of health conditions, ranging from high blood pressure to some cancers. “Getting an early diagnosis can reduce health costs by as much as 27% for employers and employees,” explains VCD State Director James Ashford.
To unlock this full value, you need to recommend the right vision plans.
While traditional vision insurance lures employers in with low premiums, the benefits are usually limited due to coverage exceptions and high out-of-pocket costs for employees. It’s part of why employers fail to see the real value of vision perks.
Instead of traditional insurance, you can guide employers toward prepaid vision plans:
- These plans give employees access to negotiated savings at local optometrists. There is no complex reimbursement process.
- The structure is simple and transparent, which helps employees know exactly how much they’re saving and makes them more likely to use the plan, resulting in higher satisfaction.
- Prepaid plans are also flexible. You can offer simple products with savings on eye exams or explore advanced options for those with eye health needs that go beyond routine checks.
With prepaid plans, you can present vision care benefits as a strategic investment with clear employer benefits ROI.
Explore Prepaid Vision Solutions With VCD
It’s time to help your clients look beyond upfront costs and see the real value vision plans can create in the workplace.
By adding prepaid plans to your portfolio, you can guide them toward better benefits packages with all the perks of VCD plans, including flexibility, transparency, and great savings.
Learn more about becoming a VCD broker.
FAQ
How do vision plans create value for employers?
Vision plans are part of a holistic approach to employee health. They make routine exams more accessible and help employees tackle vision challenges early.
Why do employers fail to see the value of vision plans?
Many employers lack concrete data on how their benefits perform. They incorrectly assume vision plans don’t create as much value as other benefits, or are basing their assumptions on bad experiences they had with insurance companies.
What are common objections employers have about vision plans?
Budget is a major one, with HR teams assuming only employees with glasses will use the plan, coming close. As a broker, you need to educate employers about how vision plans make routine eye exams accessible to everyone, not just people with glasses.
