When evaluating vision benefit plans for your organization, it’s easy to focus primarily on the basics: annual eye exams and eyewear coverage. However, many comprehensive vision plans offer additional features that can significantly enhance employee satisfaction and help maximize the value of your benefit plans. Understanding these often-overlooked components can help you better communicate your plan’s full value to employees and ensure they are taking advantage of all available benefits.
Beyond the Basics: Additional Vision Plan Features
- Supplemental Healthcare Discounts: Comprehensive vision plans often extend their value beyond traditional eyewear by offering discount programs for related healthcare services such as LASIK surgery or hearing aids. In partnership with LCA Vision Network, NVA members can receive free consultations and exclusive savings at over 600 participating locations. Additionally, hearing aid discount programs are becoming an increasingly common addition to vision plans. Through NVA, we partner with NationsHearing® to deliver exclusive savings and free hearing tests to our members.
- Online Shopping Options: Many vision plans now include partnerships with online retailers, offering employees convenient shopping experiences for both eyeglasses and contact lenses. These programs provide discounted pricing on popular brands, streamlined ordering processes, and fast delivery options. The seamless integration with vision benefits eliminates the need for claims processing, creating a smoother experience for employees. At NVA, we work with UVP for eyeglasses and lenses, and Contact Fill for contact lenses.
- Additional Discounts on Eyewear: Generally speaking, vision plans will offer some type of savings on vision materials beyond basic coverage. These discount programs help extend the value of your benefits throughout the plan year. At NVA, we negotiates our reimbursements to providers aggressively and pass through these savings to our plan sponsors and their employees. For example, NVA offers the EYEESSENTIAL® Discount Plan offering participants significant discounts on lenses, frames, and contact lenses once benefits are exhausted during a plan period. We also have a fixed pricing strategy which allows members to purchase additional materials that are not currently covered under their plan at a low price at in-network providers.
Tools and Resources for Better Benefit Utilization
In addition to the abovementioned features , members are often provided with tools to help them make informed choices about their vision care. At NVA, these resources include our NVA Mobile App for on-the-go access to vision benefit information, our Smart Buyer® Guide for members to learn more about vision materials, and an industry-leading Provider Search tool allowing users to see how many frames will be available at $0 out of pocket based on their specific plan design.
Maximizing Your Vision Benefit Investment
To ensure your organization and employees are getting the most value from your vision benefits:
- Regularly review your plan’s additional features and communicate them clearly to employees during open enrollment and throughout the year
- Provide educational materials that help employees understand how to take advantage of all the benefit features offered to them
- Consider how supplemental programs might address broader employee wellness needs
- Evaluate whether your current plan’s tools and resources align with your workforce’s preferences for digital access and customer service
Understanding and communicating these comprehensive vision benefit features can help increase employee satisfaction, improve benefit utilization rates, and demonstrate the full value of your organization’s investment in employee wellness.
To learn more about what NVA has to offer visit us at www.e-nva.com.