Aflac sees your needs: expanded vision insurance options

Unless you have 20/20 eyesight, you may have missed it: Aflac now offers network vision coverage.

Long a provider of supplemental insurance offerings, Aflac now also offers group, network-based coverages: Aflac Vision Insurance and Aflac Dental Insurance. Both can help meet some of your clients’ greatest demands, improve overall health and make your portfolio more complete.

Employees see clear benefits

It’s difficult to overstate just how important vision coverage is to many employees. For starters, nearly 79% of American adults use a form of vision correction, according to The Vision Council.¹ And the costs can add up quickly. The average cost of eyeglasses is $196² and contact lenses can range from $150-$400, depending on the type of lenses.³

Employees themselves are quick to point out the need for vision insurance. In fact, employees rank vision coverage among the top three supplemental options offered by employers. Forty-six percent of employees are enrolled in vision insurance, ranking the coverage just behind dental and life insurance.⁴

Still, many people lack vision coverage entirely. Two of every three of American adults have some type of vision insurance or managed vision care (MVC) coverage.¹

Unlike supplemental vision insurance, Aflac Vision Insurance pays benefits to providers similar to how health insurance works. Employees can choose an in-or out-of-network eye care provider and receive their treatment, then Aflac pays the provider according to the plan specifications. While there are advantages to both models, some employees may find the network-based coverage to be more convenient.

Eye care and overall health

When most people think of vision insurance, their minds immediately go to eyeglasses and contact lenses. Vision correction is, of course, an important part of eye care, and it's growing in importance for children. One in seven parents say their children ages 3 to 18 haven't had a vision test in two years — even though half of them recognized that screen time has a big impact on their child's eye health.⁵

But eye screenings can also turn up early evidence of serious medical conditions. The CDC notes that early treatment is critically important in preventing some common eye diseases — such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration — from causing permanent vision loss.

Also, eye doctors are sometimes the first to spot other conditions not directly related to eyesight, such as heart disease and diabetes.⁶ Vision screenings have even been known to raise red flags that eventually lead to diagnoses for diseases such as thyroid cancer.

In short, regular eye screenings can result in early interventions and help avoid costly and devastating health issues down the road, saving policyholders and your clients from the expenses associated with delayed care.

Aflac Vision Insurance is a clear choice

One of the most critical components of a network vision coverage is... well, the network.

The network for the Aflac Vision coverage boasts more than 93,000 eye care providers throughout the United States. That includes some of the country’s largest provider chains — Walmart/Sam’s Club, National Vision Inc., America’s Best, Visionworks and Costco Optical.

Member services in-and out-of-network include: eye exams and contact lens evaluations; eyeglass frames; contact lenses; eyeglass lenses (including single, bifocal, trifocal or lenticular lenses); progressive lenses; polarized and high-index lenses; and scratch-resistant and ultraviolet coating.⁷

A benefit that employees want and need, combined with an expansive provider network? You don’t have to look hard to see why Aflac Vision Insurance is a winner.