According to a study conducted by the HCMS Group in 2014, employers that offered their employees stand-alone vision benefits experienced $5.8 billion in cost savings over four years. This was due to reduced healthcare costs, a drop in productivity losses, and lower turnover rates. Eye doctors are able to identify early signs of chronic diseases much sooner than other healthcare providers.
Group Vision Insurance
Group vision insurance is fairly straightforward; the premiums for group eye care insurance are low and cover basic services like annual eye exams, eyeglass frames and lenses, and contact lenses. Under a group plan, it is most common for the insurance premium to be deducted directly from the employee’s paycheck.
Like with other types of group health insurance, vision plans often use a network of service providers that have an agreement with the insurance provider. If the employee goes to a certified eye care professional within the network, they receive the maximum benefit that the plan will pay out. Some plans, such as a group vision PPO, allow the employee to go to any provider regardless of whether they are in the network, though the portion paid by the insurance is typically less when going out of network.