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1. Did you notice that your coverage is only available every other year?

The "fine" print in vision insurance brochures is made small on purpose! They make the first few words just a half to one font-size larger than the rest so that if you start to read it, you will just think it is legal jargon or copyright info.

Though the above example is fake, the "some limitations and restrictions apply" are real and many Vision Insurance plans do this. At best, you can get eyeglasses 2 years after you begin paying! Only 2 members of your family are eligible each 2 years and the prices vary by provider - meaning that none of the prices reflected may be accurate!

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2.  DO NOT LET THEM GET YOU TWICE! If you purchased this option, you would feel like you need to use your benefits or else you wasted money right?You already wasted money on the plan, that money is gone. You don't have to waste even more by convincing yourself that you need to use the insurance! 

Example: Even with a great plan you might pay $250 "out-of-pocket" with the insurance. You also paid $12/mo for the plan over 24 months (another $244)...that is a total of $494.  If you bought the same glasses from EcoEyeCo for  $175, you still wasted $244 on paying for the monthly premium but you still saved more money overall by using EcoEyeCo! When you buy their glasses, you may feel better for using the insurance you bought at the time of purchase but when you look back, you will see how foolish it is...the insurance company plans on you feeling obligated! 

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3. So why is Vision Insurance a rip off?

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1. Vision Insurance Makes Money from Your Employer! Every employer wants to be able to offer benefits packages to recruit quality candidates.  It makes the employer look "fancy" to offer additional benefits like Vision Insurance. The insurance company makes a deal with the employer to charge a flat rate premium in order to provide any number of employees with the vision plans. In some cases, the employer may pay nothing but then they still advertise for the Insurance Company and provide free referrals!

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2. Vision Insurance Makes Money Just From The Plan They Sell You! We already shared how a pair of glasses costs very little. So even if they do not own the Optical they send you to, the cost to cover the expenses are minimal. Most decent vision insurance policies are $12-15 per month) which seems low when you pay monthly. Consider this...that is  $144-$180 per year, per employee (which more than covers the cost of even expensive glasses) BUT... most policies only let you get glasses every other year like this one! So now you are paying $288-$360  just for the insurance! They also know and plan for the fact that not every employee will remember to use their benefits too! Just more money for them!

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3. You Get Stuck In Their Web...and they plan it that way! Since you paid all that money into the policy, you feel obligated to use your benefits. You then go to the stores they tell you to go to (usually their own place or a high-end retailer in their network)

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4. How The "Network" makes them MORE MONEY...

So maybe you wonder why there are only certain places that take your insurance...they pay for it! Optometrists, Opticians and other optical-related business owners have to pay the insurance companies to advertise their store/services. It provides them more referrals and advertising! In rare circumstances, they don't have to pay but they have to agree to the small reimbursements. Either way they win!

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For Example: The insurance company may allow "High-End Optical X" to become an "In-Network" provider with the following conditions: Reimbursement for the exam...$30, Frames...$15, Lenses...$50. The insurance company now paid a total of $95 to the business owner for your glasses and exam. Remember, because you only get an exam and glasses every other year, you paid $288-$360 worth of insurance payments at this point so the insurance company makes $193-$265 just from you!

(And it is likely that only about 35 of the 100 employees from your employer even remembered to use the insurance...so they make $28,800 on the low end, spend $3,325 on the high end by covering exams and glasses then profit at least $25,475 per employer offering their vision insurance!  Even if all 100 used their benefits they earned $19,250 per employer!

 

What about the business owner? Or what if the insurance company owns the optical too?

Most people want to get the most of the insurance they have been paying for and the insurance company uses risk management techniques to bet that you will not use the zero co-pay options! Over 75% of people do not get the minimum covered! So you will spend at least $65 on co-pays in the more than generous and almost ridiculously great example above!

You are given an option of FREE frames (which are actually the ugly, generic cheep quality frames that cost $0.50) and it says if you have myopia, hyperopia, or presbyopia then you are covered right? Sounds like a lot of "opias" it must include mine...of course you are covered, its insurance, but what does it cover?  Well worst case senario the Zero Co-pay even has Astigmatism and I've heard that word so I technically could get FREE lenses... why not splurge on the frame?!

Lets use the low end of an average Designer Frame with a cost of $229. You pick it out, you tell the salesman that you love it. Now you are comitted and 95% of people will not put it back because of financial reasons. But... you have a $150 frame allowance. So you pay $79 for the frame, not bad right? Right? Oh yea, there's co-pays too but we will come back to that...on to lenses!

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t feels like you have the option of getting FREE lenses so why not splurge and get the better ones! Basic Single Vision lenses cost the provider a few dollars so if you are under 40 and need those, no big loss. A very small percentage of people actually wear bifocals or trifocals anymore and they know that but they want you to feel like its an option at least. And its a FREE option...well Free for $30 (co-pay). If you are over 40, like most professionals who get vision insurance then you will likely need a prescription for distance and near. The majority of people opt for the "no-line" progressive lenses. With you insurance plan you save "up to 40%" though. (Bust did you see the fine print that said participation varies). Let's say you get lucky and you do get the 40% off. The average progressive lens in the US costs $350. So you save $140!  Wow, might as well get the extras with the money you saved. So you add Scratch Resistant Coating, UV, Digital Blue Block and Transitions! That's $20 in co-pays for the first two options. Digital Blue Block normally costs $100 but you save "up to 40%" and Transitions cost $100 (at best) but you save up to 40%. Assuming you actually get 40% off, your lenses are now $350!

"Mr./Mrs. Customer, look at this...without insurance those lenses would have cost $350 for progressives, $25 for Scratch Coat, $25 for UV Protection, $100 for Blue Block and $100 for Transitions. That is a total of $600! Your insurance saved you a ton! Do you know about how anti-reflective coating can reduce glare? With your insurance you can add it for just $50 giving you lenses valued at $700 for just $400 because of your insurance!" - see how easy that was to convince you that the insurance was great!

"Now lets add the $65 co-pays and the $79 you paid for a $229 frame. Your grand total today is just $544 - wow without insurance you would have paid about $1,000.

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Here is what you don't know...Transitions already come with Scratch Coating, UV Protection and Digital Blue Block. When you use insurance, the optical company uses the MSRP prices of every line item too. Now add the money you paid for the insurance ($288-$360) - what's worse is that you either had to use one of your days off or miss out on pay for the day to go to the optical. You drove there and back home. Then drove back to get them and home again. So how much did you save?!

You paid at least $832 for your eyeglasses with insurance! EcoEyeCo.com could sell you the same eyeglasses for roughly $250...total! While some optical companies offer same day or even 1-hour service, many progressive lenses have to be ordered and most definitely ones with all the options mentioned in this example. Most outside labs take 2-3 weeks to get them back to you! EcoEyeCo strives for 10 days and they come right to your door!

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EcoEyeCo.com offers our members another unique opportunity... VISION ASSURANCE!

It's simple:

You pay $5/mo for Single Vision or $9/mo for Progressives

Each year, 100% of the money you put in goes directly to the purchase price - like lay away. If you don't use it in the first year, by the end of year two, you will almost certainly have enough credit to get a Free Complete Pair of Eyeglasses. Regardless 100% of the money you put in, comes off the total price.

Members also get additional benefits like family discounts and get to participate in our Referral Reward Program. You get assigned a unique Promo Code to give to your friends, family or others which allows them to save $10 off their order. The code allows us to see who referred the sale and gives you money for the referral! Most sales provide a $10 or $20 credit. You can cash in your credit to save even more money on your eyeglasses or even get a FREE 

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