More than 50% of US citizens wear contact lenses or prescription glasses and this leads to the importance of availing eye care insurance plans. One may get their plans directly to the insurance provider or through your employer.
Different Insurance Plans For Your Eyes
Insurance plans offer either discounts on eyewear or benefit packages. The benefit package usually covers eye exams which may require your co-payment at the time of service. Your balance will then be shouldered by your plan. In contrast to discount plan, you will pay the whole the services but at a lower price.
When you avail your eye care insurance plan, be it a discount package or benefit package, you buy 2 products:
- Specific eye care products and services like contact lenses, prescription glasses and eye exams.
- Access to a network of specialists who have agreed to provide the products for your eyes and/or services at a discounted price. These usually are general ophthalmologists and optometrists. There are cases, however, that specialized ophthalmologists are included like refractive surgeons who offers LASIK and other visual correction procedures other than eyeglasses.
With these 2 products, it is therefore critical to evaluate the network of experts and their offered services in choosing your eye care insurance plan. In evaluating, determine your present and future needs for your overall health. You may want to check your past 1 or 2 years of records to find out the kinds of services you and your family had availed as this would determine your future needs.
