Group Vision Insurance
Find the Best Group Vision Insurance for Your Client
Group vision insurance is an affordable way for employers to provide competitive benefits to their employees. Group vision is a supplementary benefit often bundled with other group policies, such as medical and dental insurance.
Offering to help your clients understand group vision insurance and bundle it with other insurance policies can be a great way to grow your business and staffing.
What is group vision insurance?
Group vision serves as a supplement to a group medical policy and can help employees offset expenses related to eye care that they would typically pay out-of-pocket. Expenses include contact replacement, lens replacement, vision corrective Wear, annual eye examinations, corrective eye surgery, contact lens exams, and more. Employers may offer the policy any time of year. Alternatively, the employees can enroll during open enrollment periods as defined by the employer’s policy timeline, which often aligns with the medical open enrollment period. The cost for group vision coverage generally ranges from $5–35 per employee.
There are two different options when it comes to the types of vision offerings a company can provide for its employees:
Employer-Paid Vision Plans – This is when 100% of the eligible employees participate in the plan, and it is 100% employer-paid.
Voluntary Vision Plans is a plan offered by the employer that provides employees the option to purchase the vision policy at their own cost. In this case, the premium is paid for by payroll deductions. There is also most of the time a minimum number of employees required to participate in the plan in order for it to be offered on a voluntary basis.
Group vision insurance plans offer similar coverage to individual vision plans. The primary difference is that group vision is offered by a business to employees and is a lot of the time paid for by the company.
Contact us to learn more about group vision plans
What does group vision insurance cover?
Group vision insurance covers eye exams, contacts, glasses, and corrective eye surgery, excluding LASIK. However, most vision care plans will provide a discount on laser eye surgery. There are also limitations when it comes to coverage. Most plans will cover lenses for glasses, but only basic lenses. Add-ons such as anti-glare features or blue light filters will not be covered. There is a frame allowance which means that the plan will only cover the cost of the frames up to a certain amount annually.
When searching for the right group vision plan for your client, it is crucial to consider the provider networks covered by each plan. Group vision policies fall under the following networks:
HMO Point of Service Group Vision policies are similar to health insurance HMO policies. Employees have access to a limited network of providers and need to get referrals from their primary optometrist to receive additional services. Unlike traditional HMO plans, HMO point of service plans allow employees to get care out-of-network at a reduced level of coverage.
PPO Group Vision policies are comparable to health insurance PPO policies. Employees have access to a broader network of doctors but typically pay higher premiums than with HMO plans.
Indemnity Insurance policies provide a fixed discount rate for specific covered services. Unlike HMO and PPO, they do not have provider networks.
How do I find the best group vision insurance for my client?
If your clients include businesses that offer benefits to their employees, you should consider introducing group vision as an option. Many employers start by shopping for group health insurance policies. By exploring other products that they may be interested in, you can suggest bundling policies by including supplemental benefits like group vision. Bundling benefits can be attractive to employers as a way to consolidate billing. This may help to sway employers toward choosing a particular provider with whom they can quickly fill out one application for several policies, such as vision, dental, and health insurance.
Learn more about bundling group vision.
Some of your business clients may already have health insurance and want to add group vision to their benefits packages. In case a client does reach out, it is important to be prepared with the right questions to gauge their qualifications and needs.
For example, unlike health insurance, not all employees are interested in taking advantage of vision coverage. Small businesses that have 50 or fewer employees may only have 10 employees who need group vision, meaning it may not be a good investment for the business. You can help your clients think through common situations such as: Are you prepared to pay for your employee’s premium? How many of your employees wear contacts or glasses? How often do they need to replace them? Will it exceed the replacement limits?
While you can technically purchase group vision for your client directly through a carrier, it is usually not the best approach for financial advisors. Because there are so many products on the market, it can be difficult to compare policies to find the best fit for your client. That is where a broker comes in.
Should I buy group vision insurance through a broker?
Working with a brokerage general agency (BGA) will save you the time and stress of finding the right policy on your own. BGAs have relationships with multiple carriers and extensive product knowledge, allowing them to shop the market for the best policies at no cost to you. They are equipped to provide both front-end sales support and back-end office support, such as managing enrollments and maintaining the policy over time. Simply put, a BGA can help you deliver a better result for your client more quickly and effectively.
How do I find the best group vision insurance BGA?
When shopping for group vision policies, look for BGAs that specialize in group benefits. That will make it easier for you to offer your clients help to bundle vision and other supplemental coverage with their health insurance. Start by asking for referrals from your network and insurance broker associations such as NAIFA.
You can also do your research by prospecting insurance brokerages that serve your area. Look for these qualities in a broker:
- Responsiveness and attentiveness. Are they getting back to you and addressing your questions promptly?
- Product knowledge. Are they knowledgeable of the products and solutions available to serve you and your clients’ needs?
- Back-office support. What happens after an application is submitted? Will they support you after they make the sale?
- A good team instead of just a good salesperson: make sure that the service is as good as the pitch. Service can make or break a relationship.
Contact us and get the help you need to grow your business today
EMG can help
As a brokerage general agency, EMG Insurance Brokerage handles everything from submission to the commission. Our relationships with over 30 carriers allow us to help choose the best solution for your client. We will walk you through the process and help you customize solutions for the unique needs of each client.
Our team has the in-depth product knowledge you need to find a policy that best suits your client. We can help you to bundle a vision policy with a dental or other group policy, saving you the time of trying to bundle them on your own.
Connect with us by phone, online, or in-person and schedule a consultation with your sales director today to discuss whether group vision is a good fit for your clients.