Why the Affordable Care Act Does Not Cover Vision

“Healthcare.gov will reopen for business on Nov. 15, welcoming millions of Americans to an insurance marketplace that offers medical plans and dental coverage. No one will be shopping for separate eye-care plans, an exclusion that roils companies that sell vision insurance. Even though they aren’t getting new customers, vision insurers still have to pay the Affordable Care Act’s tax on health insurance providers. Why did vision get left out of Obamacare?” asks Business Week. “The answer reveals a lot about the rabbit hole of bureaucracy and political gridlock that’s responsible for so much of American public policy in 2014. Vision plans were originally intended to be part of the exchanges when the ACA was being drafted, says Rob Lynch, chief executive of VSP Global, a vision plan that covers eye care for 67 million Americans. Lawmakers became concerned about how subsidies to help people afford coverage would be split among medical, dental, and visual providers, so glasses got left out. But eye-care plans remained subject to the tax on health insurers. When VSP paid the fee last week, the levy amounted to $25 million. In a letter to the Internal Revenue Service along with the payment, VSP’s general counsel said the company intends to seek a refund.” Read more.

Union of America Eye Care Providers Vision Plans Are Anti-Competitive

“Representatives of the Union of America Eye Care Providers recently met with the Department of Justice’s Healthcare Anti-Trust Division to argue the organization’s position that the vision care plan industry’s policies have an anti-competitive affect on the vision care industry,” reports Modern Medicine. “The meeting laid the legal foundation for the Union’s position that vision care plans’ policies and rules lead to higher prices, lower quality, fewer choices, according to Union Executive Director Craig Steinberg, OD, JD.” Read more.

Colonial Life and Superior Vision Team Up to Offer Vision Plan

Workers nationwide now have more convenient access to affordable vision insurance, thanks to a new partnership between Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company and Superior Vision. The partnership enables Colonial Life to offer a vision insurance plan, which includes comprehensive eye exams, eyeglass frame and lenses, contact lenses, a contact lens fitting exam and discounts on additional glasses and contacts, says a Colonial spokesperson. Employer groups may choose a full benefits package or a plan that includes glasses and contacts without the exam. Superior Vision has an industry-leading provider network of more than 48,000 ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, and regional and national retail chain locations, including LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Wal-Mart Vision Centers, Target Optical, Sam’s Club, America’s Best and Visionworks. Employees can sign up for the vision plan as part of their regular workplace benefits enrollment and can pay premiums through convenient payroll deduction. Read more.

AlwaysCare and VSP Link Up

AlwaysCare Benefits, Inc., has created a new Preferred Choice Vision Plans through a joint venture with VSP Vision Care. This arrangement enables AlwaysCare to offer its vision plans side-by-side with plans from VSP Vision Care.Read more.