A Consumer's Guide to Vision Insurance

Will you be using your insurance? Or What insurance do you have? 

Would be common questions whenever you go to the doctor. It is also the next question you are asked at an eye doctor’s office after they greet you with “how can I help you”.

Vision insurance is very common nowadays and they can either be provided by your company or by the government via medicare or medicaid. 

A common mistake people have is confusing their medical insurance with their vision insurance. Also, big general health insurance companies, like Atnea and United Health, may partner with insurance companies that specialize in Vision insurance so the health insurance card you have in your pocket is not necessarily the company that covers your vision benefits. Confusing right? Don’t worry once you come to a Mott Optical Group store, a customer service representative can help you sort it all out and explain it in a way you can understand.

Generally, vision insurance works in two ways: they cover your eye exam or you have to pay a small co-pay to get your eyes examined. For the frame part of the insurance, they either cover a portion of the frame cost that the optician provides, which are called discount plans, or the insurance company will cover the complete frame and lens and the optician will only have sample frames for you to see and try on. When the insurance company provides the frame and lens, a big drawback is that it limits the choice of frames and the lens you get are the most basic ones without any choices for thinner lens, progressives, or anti-glare coatings. Another drawback is that it takes around 2 to 3 weeks to get a complete pair of glasses back from the insurance company. 

The discount plans are better options. Not only does it allow you to choose any frame within your budget at the optical, but also it gives you many options for lenses at a fraction of the cost you would pay out of pocket. All the great advanced anti-glare coatings, blue block coatings, transition lens, and progressive options are also available at a small co-pay. If you did not choose to get the lens, you can use your benefits for contact lenses instead. At the Mott Optical group, if it’s a single vision lens, we can typically use our own stock lenses and you can get a complete frame and lens within 48 hours. For contact lenses, we have the most popular contact lens brand, Acuvue, with most prescriptions without astigmatism in stock so you can get your contact lens right after you confirm your eligibility. 

Another benefit of discount plans is that you will pay into it monthly, before taxes, and you can get designer branded eyeglasses to elevate your style.  

Saving money to get glasses and receiving the service that your eyes needs do not have to be mutually exclusive. You can get high quality, designer or handcrafted eyewear at a significant discount and get your eye examined by a doctor and glasses dispensed by a certified optician by using your vision insurance.   

Come to the Mott Optical Group today or click the link here for someone on our team to explain to you your benefits.