May is Healthy Vision Month, which is all about getting the word out about the importance of healthy vision and getting regular eye exams. With so many employees working remotely these days and spending more time in front of screens, maintaining eye health is becoming even more crucial. Now is a great time to remind your employees to take advantage of their vision insurance. If you don’t currently offer vision insurance, this is also a good time to consider adding this vital offering to your existing benefits package to help your organization attract and retain quality talent.

Why Vision Insurance Is Important

Putting in hours of screen time—something many workers are doing more of these days—can potentially cause eye problems. It can also lead to reduced productivity. Nearly 80% of employees report that increased time spent on devices like laptops, mobile phones, and tablets is having a negative impact on their job performance due to headaches, fatigue and being unable to focus. Offering vision insurance can keep eye health top of mind for employees, and help your company create a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce.  

Routine eye exams can also make a significant impact on your employees’ eye health. Early treatment is critically important to help uncover chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension, in addition to preventing common eye diseases, such as cataracts and glaucoma from causing permanent vision loss or blindness. Of the estimated 93 million US adults at high risk for vision loss, only half visited an eye doctor in the past 12 months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So for many employees, having access to eye care insurance at work means having the opportunity to get early treatment for a chronic illness and/or preserve their vision. 

Providing vision coverage not only saves your employees money on eye exams, glasses, and contact lenses, it saves your company money as well. Providing standard vision coverage, along with low-cost “boosters” that increase employees’ access to frames, contact lenses, elective glasses, and other benefits can save employers more than $2,700 annually per employee. An additional benefit is potential savings on medical claim costs due to  early detection of chronic illnesses—all from a simple medical exam.

It likely goes without saying, improved productivity positively impacts your bottom line. What’s more, turnover can cost a company 1.5-2 times an employee’s salary, and this estimate varies depending on industry and seniority. So it stands to reason that employers can boost retention rates and reduce recruiting and hiring expenses, simply by offering their employees access to quality vision care coverage.

Some Helpful Tips to Improve Eye Health

If your employees are struggling with eye strain, headaches and fatigue due to too much screen time, here are some helpful tips:

• Wear blue light filtering glasses: Eyes get tired from looking at a screen for long periods of time. Wearing blue light filtering glasses or prescription eyewear made for the computer can help alleviate eye strain and make it easier to focus. Blue light filtering glasses can also help improve productivity and sleep quality.
  
• Rest eyes periodically throughout the day: Taking short breaks to look away from the screen can give eyes a much-needed break while helping reduce eye strain and related issues.
  
• Get routine eye exams: Just like an annual physical, regular vision check-ups can help your employees keep their eyes strong and healthy and get early treatment if they need it. 

WTIA Makes It Easy to Offer Eye Care Coverage

Not all companies provide vision benefits. However, it’s a benefit that employees want. A recent study showed that 87% of employees surveyed would be more likely to stay with an employer that offered high-quality vision benefits, such as coverage for premium frame and lens options. With a third of workers saying they plan to look for a new job this year, employers have an opportunity to add this compelling and often low-cost benefit to their menu to entice top candidates to join and stay with their companies. 

WTIA makes it easy to offer vision benefits for your employees. We offer five different vision insurance plans through our national carrier partner, VSP. Under these plans, most routine eye exams are covered in full with a nominal copay.   

VSP offers great perks such as discounts on glasses and sunglasses, hearing aids, and Lasik surgery. Some WTIA plans also allow employees to use their benefits to get non-prescription sunglasses or blue light filtering glasses. Read more about VSP discounts.

Adding vision coverage makes for a more robust benefits package to help improve your employees’ overall health. It’s also typically inexpensive to add a basic plan that provides coverage for routine vision exams and supplemental benefits for prescription eyewear. It’s also a benefit employees want, so it behooves employers to boost their recruiting and retention efforts by offering the best vision insurance possible in the current labor market.

To learn more about the vision coverage options available for WTIA member companies, contact your broker or Raven Mencias at rmencias@washingtontechnology.org.