5 Facts Everyone Should Know About Vision Insurance

Your eyes are worth protecting, and the fact is, serious eye diseases like cataracts or glaucoma become significantly more common as people age – so it’s always better to get locked into a low rate on your vision insurance as early as possible and for as long as possible.

Although vision insurance is a fairly common insurance type, nonetheless, those who don’t already have a policy often know little about how it works – and sometimes, those with a policy aren’t quite sure about all the details either. That’s why it pays to talk to good insurance agent before making a decision so you can learn all the relevant ins and outs and how much you’re likely to save.

But to give you a basic overview of how vision insurance works, here are 5 of the most important facts about it that everyone should be aware of:

1. You save big on annual eye exams.
Almost all vision plans include an annual eye examination. It may be free or it may be you have to pay only a small, set copay for the exam. Typically, you choose between exams focused on glasses, contacts, or just general eye health if you wear neither.

You often save $100 or more on the eye exam each year you own the policy, and if you need additional exams or a specialized exam for some reason, those also tend to be steeply discounted or free, depending on the policy.

2. There are two main types of vision insurance.
Although there are many different forms of vision policies in the US today, the two most common ones are those set up with an HMO (health maintenance organization) or a PPO (preferred provider organization) network.

With HMOs, you have to stay in-network. With PPO, you can go out of network but you get bigger discounts when you stick with the preferred (in-network) providers.

3. Group plans are very common with vision insurance.
One of the main insurance types often offered to employees by employers is vision (often coupled with dental plans). A group plan gets you a group discount, simplifies the application process, and can be had through your job, association, school district, or other group.

You may qualify for group insurance and not even know it – so take the time to explore possibilities. For example, if you’re an AARP member, you might qualify. It might even be worth joining an organization in order to get the vision insurance discount.

4. There are many ways to save through a good vision plan.
Not only the annual eye exam, but necessary consultation with eye care specialists, glasses (and frames) or contacts, optical lab work, LASIK or PRK eye surgery, and more typically receive significant discounts.

And you get access to a large network of all manner of eye care specialists, so that whatever your exact need, you can quickly get an appointment to see the right person.

5. Insurers typically provide quality assurance services to members.
If you have a dispute or a question, or if you have a reasonable complaint about the quality of services received from a provider, the good news with vision coverage is that insurers usually have a quality assurance service set up to facilitate resolution of these kinds of customer satisfaction issues.

To learn more about how vision insurance works, contact Flagler County Insurance Agency today!