The Clear Benefits of Offering Vision Health

Companies that exclude vision benefits for employees may want to rethink whether that is helping the bottom line. Vision disorders can cut productivity and are said to cost U.S. companies billions.

One of the great advantages of defined contribution health benefit plans is that they provide employees with a menu of choices for healthcare, including the “big four” – medical care, dental care, prescription drugs and vision benefits. But among these four potential benefits, vision care is the least likely to be offered and the least likely to be used. According to the most recent U.S. Department of Labor National Compensation Survey, just 28 percent of companies offer vision care. (In comparison, 72 percent offer medical care, 68 percent offer prescription drug benefits and 46 percent offer dental benefits.)

Companies that don’t offer vision care may want to rethink their strategy. Vision disorders carry a hefty price tag for employers. They can result in a marked decrease in productivity, costing businesses an estimated $8 billion annually, according to a report released by the Vision Council of America (VCA).

High cost of blurred vision “Uncorrected vision problems are costing employers billions of dollars,” said Ed Greene, CEO of VCA. “Direct medical costs associated with vision disorders exceed similar medical expenditures for breast cancer, lung cancer and HIV, yet few Americans get regular eye exams or have vision coverage in their health plans,” said Greene.

The employees most at risk for developing vision problems that affect their work performance include engineers, construction workers, stockbrokers, software developers, accountants and administrative assistants.

The report found that an estimated 11 million Americans have uncorrected vision problems, ranging from refractive errors (near- or far-sightedness) to sight-threatening diseases such as glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration. Nearly 90 percent of those who use a computer at least three hours a day suffer vision problems associated with computer-related eye strain.

Another study cited in the Journal of the American Optometric Association found that in the presence of very little visual degradation, such as glare on a monitor, employees show an efficiency decline of four percent to 19 percent in accomplishing standard tasks. Translating that percentage into dollars, just a four percent improvement in efficiency of an employee earning $30,000 per year would be worth $1,200. And here may be the most telling statistic of the VCA report: employers gain as much as $7 for every $1 spent on vision coverage.

Types of Vision Packages.Vision insurance typically comes in the form of either a vision benefits package or a discount vision plan.

Typically, a vision benefits package provides enrollees with eye care services in exchange for an annual premium or membership fee, a yearly deductible for each enrolled member, and a co-pay each time a member accesses a service.

A discount vision plan provides eye care at fixed discounted rates after an annual premium or membership fee. The participant pays the total bill, less the applicable discount, at the time of service. Both kinds of vision plans can be custom-designed to meet the different requirements of a wide range of customers, including small and medium-sized businesses, non-profits, associations, and school districts.

Vision insurance generally covers the following basic services:

• Annual eye examinations, including dialation
• Eyeglass frames
• Eyeglass lenses
• Contact lenses
• LASIK and PRK vision correction at discounted rates

Vision insurance costs vary for employers, depending on the size of the company and how the program is designed. It may even be offered at no cost as part of a voluntary (employee-paid) benefits program. Typically, vision plan premiums range between $6 and $15 per employee per month, depending on benefits selected.

For both employees and employers, vision care costs only a fraction of the cost of vision problems or impairment. For more information, please contact us.

Flexible Holiday Schedule

Some employees want Hanukkah off, others Christmas. Some want Columbus Day off, others Martin Luther King Jr. Day. To accommodate diversity — and to reduce unexpected absences and the abuse of sick days — many companies have instituted paid-time-off banks. In these programs, employees receive a fixed number of days off a year, to be used as employees see fit, The New York Times reports. The particulars of the programs vary widely. Most plans simply combine sick and vacation days; about two-thirds also include holidays and personal days, but may include certain fixed holidays that all employees must take.

Two-thirds of workers who call in sick at the last minute do so for reasons other than personal illness. Respondents to the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey said their reasons for taking sick time included family issues (22 percent), entitlement mentality (13 percent) and stress (13 percent). Unscheduled absences can cost a large business more than $760,000 a year, said CCH, a division of Amsterdam-based information services company Wolters Kluwer. And that is just direct payroll costs, without counting lower productivity, lost revenue and the effects of low morale.