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Vision Insurance Introduction
By now you know that hiring and keeping good
employees means offering a loaded benefits package. It's becoming
pretty common for vision insurance to be part of these packages.
In fact, a 1999 survey by the Society for
Human Resource Management shows that more than half (58%) of
businesses with fewer than 100 employees offers vision insurance.
Vision insurance is one way to load up your
business' benefit package - and it's probably cheaper than you think.
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What's Covered?
Like any insurance, vision care plans vary.
They can range from plans that just cover the bare minimum to
expansive plans that cover high-cost eye treatments.
More often than not, coverage is going to be
somewhat narrow, especially an affordable plan for a small business.
A typical plan for a small business will
cover routine eye exams (one per year), prescription eyewear (glasses
and contacts), and glaucoma screening. Visits can be made to an
optometrist or ophthalmologist. Some average plans will also cover
"usual and customary" treatment fees that result from a routine eye
exam.
If you get your plan from an HMO, coverage
generally will restrict patients to seeing optometrists and
ophthalmologists that are within a network. |
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Shopping For Coverage
You have a few options when it comes to
buying vision insurance: namely, HMOs and insurance carriers.
You can also offer it under your business'
cafeteria plan (click here for
related article), which offers an array of benefits and lets employees
pick and choose what they want.
Also check into your health insurance
carrier. They can offer vision insurance as part of your health
insurance policy, but it may be pretty narrow, covering only the bare
minimum -- like routine eye exams. |
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Cost
Vision insurance is quite cheap. Expect to
pay in the area of $50 (per individual/per year) for an average plan
through an HMO, insurance carrier, or otherwise. Employers generally
contribute 25-50% of the individual's annual premium.
If you do decide to go through your health
insurance provider, you may save a few pennies but the plan may end up
too narrow for your employees' liking. The cost will be tacked on to
the employee's health insurance premium.
There are many different plans and insurance
carriers-major insurance carriers as well as smaller independent
carriers offer coverage. Get at least three quotes (many places let
you do it online) and then do some comparing to get the best price.
Patients may have to pay up front for the
visit and get reimbursed, or the optometrist may handle payment
directly with the insurance company. |
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Should You Offer It?
Whether or not you should offer vision
insurance, or any other extras in your benefits package, is always a
question that plagues businesses-especially small businesses that just
don't have the extra cash.
Sure these extras will cost you; you most
likely are going to contribute to the premiums.
But take a step back and look at the big
picture. You don't need a fancy plan that covers eye surgery, because
the majority of your employees will never need it. You can offer the
inexpensive basic plan that covers routine eye exams and prescription
eyewear. That's what your employees want and need.
And it's those extras that pull in and keep
high-quality employees. |
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