Many employers might not have considered just how much an investment in a vision program can contribute to their overall strategy and success. Here are seven of the most prominent and important vision benefits trends in the workplace.
1. Rising Health Care Costs
Employers may be surprised how a vision benefit has the potential to reduce their overall health care expenditures while increasing bottom-line profits through enhanced productivity.
Businesses lose $8 billion annually due to vision-related problems, and uncorrected vision can decrease employee performance by as much as 20 percent, even when vision is miscorrected so slightly that it is not noticeable by the employee. However, with vision plans that cover proper eye care and sight-enhancing eyewear, employees can maximize the quality of their vision as well as their productivity.
In addition, yearly eye exams may offset overall health costs by helping to detect diseases not affecting the eye, including diabetes, hypertension, and even cancer, enabling earlier (and less costly) treatment. Overall, research shows that employers can save up to $7 for every $1 spent on vision coverage.
2. Choices in Benefits and Health
As employer subsidies for all coverage is reduced due to rising costs, employers are more likely to allow their workers to choose what benefits are important to them. Offering vision benefit options and the employee’s experience “shopping” for health care aligns well with the employers’ goal of creating a more value-savvy workforce. In essence, vision coverage could be an excellent way to allow workers to “practice” their health consumerism. Research shows that consumers in new account-based medical programs are increasingly willing to spend more now to avoid adverse health events in the future. Employees that understand the importance of protecting their eyes from vision loss or eye diseases in the future may be likely to elect vision coverage if it is offered.
It seems that human resource professionals are already aware of some of the advantages of vision plans that may appeal to their employees. A recent survey from Transitions Optical shows that HR professionals feel their employees have a strong interest in several advantages of vision plans, including discounts on eye care and eyewear, specific lens enhancements such as anti-reflective coatings and photochromics—which darken and lighten according to their exposure to ultraviolet light, and thinner and more durable lens materials. Aside from increasing productivity at work, better access to these types of lens options also allows employees to enjoy comfortable vision outside the office, adding to their overall satisfaction.
3. Aging Workforce and Reduced Retirement Coverage
With the disproportionate share of aging baby boomers in the workforce and the need to retain this highly qualified sector of workers on-the-job, adding vision benefits to stay competitive and meet population health needs takes on an even greater importance. By 2010, the number of workers aged 45 to 54 will increase by 21 percent, and the number of workers aged 55 to 65 will increase by 47 percent. Plus, AARP and others report that 8 out of 10 baby boomers say they don’t plan to stop working at age 65.
At the same time, retiree medical coverage is receding, forcing employees
to continue working longer if they want valuable health benefits. Vision coverage should be included because the importance of eye care increases with age. Eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration also become more common. Since Medicare may subsidize some medical benefits, older employees may be even more interested in ancillary benefits, such as vision.
In addition, many aging boomers have seen their parents face the debilitating effects of vision loss and do not want to share the same fate.
4. Attraction and Retention
Growth in the number of jobs is projected to outpace the growth of the labor force. This dynamic can make it tough for employers to retain the right workforce. In fact, workers between the ages of 18 and 38 are predicted to change jobs about ten times. Research also shows that human resource professionals greatly underestimate the steps employees have taken to potentially pursue a new job, such as updating their resumes and surfing online job postings. In such an environment, differentiators and perks like comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, along with competitive salaries and paid time off, can help retain employees and help attract new ones.
5. Focus on Kids’ Health
Employees with children appreciate health benefits that include options for them. Eye care is critical to children’s health and their ability to learn overall since 70 percent of a child’s learning occurs through the eyes.
Additionally, nearly one out of every three kids (ages 2 to 19) in the United States is overweight or at risk of becoming overweight—greatly contributing to diabetes becoming one of the most common chronic diseases among school-aged children. In addition to regular eye care to help manage related eye diseases, regular eye exams can help detect diabetes in its earlier stages.
6. Rising Rate of Diabetes
Of course, the increasing incidence of diabetes is not limited to children. Because the health care costs associated with diabetes are so high, and the disease is appearing with such frequency among the general population, diabetes can end up costing businesses a great deal of money. In 2002, diabetes accounted for a loss of nearly 88 million productive days due to disability, and 176 cases of permanent disability, at a cost of $7.5 billion. Since employees are often more likely to visit their eye doctor annually than their general physician, the eye doctor can be an important line of preventive defense. The potential for diagnosing diabetes makes regular comprehensive eye exams a
critical aspect of preventative health care.
7. Medication Use
Americans are taking prescription medications more than ever before. In fact, many insightful employers are shifting their attention from how to deter the use of prescriptions to how to increase their appropriate use and compliance; this shows the understanding that managing conditions through pharmacy alternatives often can be less expensive than visits to the ER or hospital.
However, many employees—as many as 60 percent—do not realize prescription medications can negatively affect their vision. Certain medications can affect how well the pupil of the eye opens and closes, making the eyes light-sensitive, while others can increase susceptibility to UV damage. Proper vision wear can provide important glare and UV blockage to alleviate symptoms and provide vital protection, making the eyewear portion of the vision benefit an important form of medical treatment.
Arm Your Employees With Knowledge
Armed with this knowledge about the potential impact of vision care plans on employees’ overall health, productivity, and retention, employers can make more informed decisions when building vision care plans into their overall health care strategy. Employers can also seize the opportunity to more effectively communicate the value of eye care to their employees.
Research shows that HR managers are interested in using various outside materials to aid them in this communication effort. One such tool is the Transitions Online Marketing (TOM) tool, a central online vision resource where industry professionals can create custom educational materials, such as employee newsletters and eye health flyers. Employees will be interested to hear how opting for a vision benefit may affect them personally, from managing the cost of their overall health care to providing themselves and their children with preventative eye care and healthy sight.
Opportunities for controlling long-term costs, improving health, increasing satisfaction, and positively affecting attraction and retention make vision coverage an often overlooked but clear, compelling opportunity.
