The Time is Right for Selling Vision
by Jonna Jefferis

We live in precarious times; the changing winds of our economy have caught many of us off-balance. We wait for positive signs of recovery amid news reports of failing banks, home foreclosures, Wall Street bailouts, and an erratic stock market. Businesses are searching for new markets as well as new budget-slashing strategies.

It’s old news that healthcare and medical insurance costs continue to climb. In 2007, they exceeded $2 trillion, according to a Vision Council report. What may be surprising is that vision care has been relatively unaffected by inflation. In the second half of 2008, medical HMO and PPO costs rose at an 11.1% weighted annual rate while vision care costs rose only 1.5%, according to a survey by Buck Consultants.

Vision is an attractive benefit for employers that are looking to serve the health needs of their employees’ while keeping expenses manageable. Vision is a high-value benefit that costs the employer less than 5% of the amount spent on medical coverage.

The number of employers providing vision plans has increased over the past decade. Of 51 categories of healthcare and welfare benefits, at 78%, vision insurance ranked fifth in the percentage of employers offering it in 2008. That’s a 7% gain since 2004, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Employer’s need to hold down costs without depriving employees of affordable eye care, which is driving voluntary funding. Vision now surpasses dental in growth rate among voluntary benefits. In the next two years, new vision products are projected to be among the plans most likely to be added to voluntary portfolios, after life, critical illness and cancer insurance, according to a January 2009 survey by Eastbridge Consulting Group.
Why Brokers Are Selling Vision
Offering a vision benefit is not only good for your clients’ budgets, but it also gives you the opportunity to do the following:

• Increase your profits. Employers are buying vision plans and indicators suggest that the trend will continue. Take advantage of the additional commission you can earn by selling these plans.
• Round out an existing account. If you’re not offering a vision plan to your clients, you’re leaving open an opportunity for a competing broker or medical insurer. If you do offer it, a closer partnership with your client may develop, enhancing your ability to cross-sell additional products.
• Retain your clients. Experience has shown that, if you cover a client with more than one insurance line, the client is less likely to cancel any of your plans. When clients end a professional relationship, they tend to avoid speaking to that person again and having to explain the reason. So your client probably will be less likely to drop other coverage if they also have a vision plan with you.

Why Employers Are Buying Vision

Offering vision benefits gives employers a valuable tool that can provide added financial security for employees, attract and retain top talent, increase productivity, save money, and reduce the cost of absenteeism.

Without eye care coverage, the average cost of frames, lenses and an eye exam can exceed $400, according to a survey by the National Association of Vision Care Plans. This places a heavy financial burden on many American workers, more than 72% of whom require some form of vision correction, according to The Vision Council. In contrast, out-of-pocket costs for workers with vision coverage may be limited to a copayment of $10 to $20 for an eye exam plus eyewear. Some plans do not require any copay.

Workers who have vision coverage are more likely to get the professional eye care and corrective eyewear they need. This saves money for employers, who will see diminishing vision-related problems relating to job productivity, accidents, and increased medical costs.

Finding the Best Coverage

A vision benefit package is easier to sell when you find a plan provider with offerings that employers value. Here is what to look for:
• Discounts and extras. Because vision benefits are relatively inexpensive, some plan providers pass savings on to beneficiaries by providing eyewear breakage warranties and special discounts. Look for reduced prices on lens options, mail-order replacement contact lenses, laser correction surgery, and non-covered exams and materials. Certain lens options may be available at no additional charge.
• Plan simplicity. The plan should be headache-free for employers and workers. This means finding a plan that is easy to administer and structurally uncomplicated so that employers, workers, and providers find it simple to understand. The best possible eye care experience for workers will include access to a large provider network and a generous selection of covered eyewear.
• Plan Flexibility. Vision benefits are easier to sell when employers know that plan options are flexible. For example, a plan might be designed to suit the needs different groups of workers. The choice of a high-end plan, a low-end plan, or an in-between plan may be available. Co-payments and the frequency of eye exams and eyewear purchases may be mixed and matched to suit specific employee populations.
• Disease management program. With such a program, an employee’s eye care professional and primary doctor share health information. The goal is to ensure appropriate and timely continuity of care for those with conditions, such as diabetes or diabetic retinopathy, for example.

Impaired Vision in the Workplace

As a professional, you should be looking at all the risks your clients face including loss of worker productivity and higher medical costs that may be incurred by workers with uncorrected vision or untreated eye disease.

We don’t hear very much about the budget-busting potential of employee eye disorders. But the fact is that, each year, they account for more than $8 billion in sick days, lost productivity, and medical bills, according to a 2007 report by the Vision Council.

When productivity levels are off, there is a subtle, but sustained effect on a business’s bottom line. The report indicates that visual impairment diminishes a worker’s performance by up to 20%, even if the worker is not impaired enough to be aware of a problem.

Even employees with perfect vision are subject to eyestrain from long hours spent staring at a computer screen. Transitions Academy estimates that more than 90% of workers who use a computer at least three hours a day suffer from Computer Vision Syndrome. Many vision plans cover DVT glasses, which prevent eye discomfort and enable employees to perform computer work with greater ease and efficiency.

The number of medical claims associated with uncorrected or untreated eye problems can create a dramatic effect on the employer’s budget. Today, 38 million Americans over 40 suffer from conditions that could cause vision loss if left untreated, according to a presentation by Vincent Young, M.D. for the January 2009 Transitions Academy. Vision impairment increases on-the-job accidents and injuries, which lead to sick days as well as an uptick in medical claims.

Aging Workers = Rising Medical Costs

Healthcare costs are expected to have some striking effects on the aging Baby Boomer population in about 10 years. The roller-coaster economy has motivated many of this generation to stay in the workforce longer than their parents did. Because of this demographic shift, in many industries, the typical worker is now over 40. Coincidentally, it is around age 40 that presbyopia, a natural, age-related change that diminishes one’s ability to focus at near distances, typically kicks in. When this happens (and it happens to almost everyone), new eyewear is needed.

A worker’s advancing age also increases the risk of vision impairment or vision loss from glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, or age-related macular degeneration (AMD). With an older workforce, the most common eye diseases will have a major financial impact on an employer’s medical costs and the job productivity of its workers.

Diabetic retinopathy is a good example. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) estimates that one in 12 diabetics over 40 has this vision-threatening condition caused by diabetes. That number will expand from 5.5 million to 16 million by 2060, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control.

Diabetes affects 23 million Americans and that number is expected to grow. Yet the ADA estimates that nearly 25% of diabetics are unaware they have the disease.

The dots are easy to connect: Aging employees face growing eye care needs, and employers could incur mounting healthcare expenses as a result. Transitions Academy predicts that by 2020, the number of people over 40 who are blind, visually impaired or have an age-related eye disease will expand to more than 50 million, from 38 million today.

What an Eye Exam Can Reveal

The financial burden of eye diseases in the U.S. exceeds $50 billion annually, according to Vision Council estimates. The good news is that most eye diseases are preventable or treatable starting with regular comprehensive eye examinations, which are usually included in a vision plan. Treatment can be started immediately when an eye care professional discovers the first signs of an eye disease, which can delay or halt its progression and greatly reduce the medical costs that would have been incurred over time.

A comprehensive eye exam can reveal systemic conditions, such as diabetes as well as eye diseases. Other examples include elevated cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, brain tumors, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, neurological impairments, thyroid disease and vitamin deficiencies.
Discovering such valuable information during a routine eye exam enables the patient to get early treatment from their primary doctor. An eye care professional is often the first to recognize signs of diabetes.

While an eye exam shouldn’t replace an annual physical for diagnosing systemic problems, it may be an exam that’s easier to get and less intimidating. Only 16% of American workers have annual physical exams, whereas 61% of those with vision coverage get yearly eye exams, according to a recent study of combined data from VSP Vision Care, the Census Bureau, and the National Center for Health Statistics.

The Bottom Line

Experts agree that vision is an essential component of everyone’s overall health and wellness, affecting quality of life as well as work and school performance. Employers gain as much as $7 for every $1 they spend on vision coverage when you combine savings in medical claims and increased worker productivity, according to the Vision Council. That makes vision among the most cost-effective benefits that employers can offer.

When you add the healthcare savings that employers and workers can achieve from a vision benefit to the inherent advantages of adding vision to your insurance lines, there are rewards for the employer, the worker, and you -- the broker.
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Jonna Jefferis is Communications Specialist for Davis Vision, Inc., with more than 20 years of experience as a business journalist and publications editor. Davis Vision, headquartered in Plainview, NY, is a leading managed vision care company that has provided comprehensive vision benefits for 45 years. Part of the HVHC Inc. family of companies, which also includes Viva International Group and Eye Care Centers of America, Davis Vision serves over 55 million members nationwide through a network of 30,000 ophthalmologists and optometrists, in addition to many premier retail centers. For more information, visit www.davisvision.com or e-mail jjefferis@davisvision.com.