Should I Use Vision Insurance to Buy Glasses or Contacts? - Eye Wares (2024)

Taking care of your vision is important. Often, patients purchase vision insurance or VSP Vision Care to reduce the costs of eye exams and corrective eyewear.

Vision insurance is a great way to ensure you get the coverage you need to pay for prescription glasses, contact lenses, comprehensive eye exams, or eye care. A vision insurance plan typically covers annual eye appointments, frames, lens replacements, contact lenses, and other services, depending on your coverage. However, most plans only allow for one vision correction option — prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses. They rarely cover both.

If you’re debating whether to use your vision insurance for prescription glasses or contact lenses, this article will provide insight to the advantages of each.

What Is Vision Insurance and What Does It Cover?

Vision insurance is an essential type of insurance many people carry for eye health. It covers costs associated with eye care, including routine checkups and examinations and additional services like prescription frames, lenses, and contacts.

Benefits of Prescription Glasses

If you have vision insurance, you can use the coverage to buy or lower your cost for prescription eyeglasses. Most plans, including VSP insurance, provide a higher benefit for glasses, allowing for the cost of both frames and lenses and usually amounting to almost double to what is given for contact lenses.

Prescription eyeglasses may be the best choice for many people, like those who work on computers or those with sensitive eyes. Not to mention, a chic luxury frame can perfectly express your personal style or mood.

The benefits of choosing to use your vision coverage for eye glasses include the following:

  • Fewer restrictions: Glasses don’t require constant upkeep and care. You can put them on and go about your day without worrying about meticulously cleaning or storing them.
  • Less likely to cause eye irritation: Glasses are also less likely to irritate as they don’t rest directly in your eyes.
  • Blue light lenses: If you spend a lot of time on digital devices, a pair of eyeglasses can be upgraded with blue light lenses to help ease digital eye strain.
  • Stylish frames: There is a huge selection of designer and luxury frames available. Many people enjoy having a variety of glasses to accessorize different fashions or express different moods.

Benefits of Contact Lens

Contact lenses are corrective vision devices that that fit to sit directly on the eye. Some people believe this allows for clearer and more precise vision. In reality, this is not true. Contact lenses are an accessory to corrective eyewear. They are a good choice for people who want more freedom to move around without the distraction of trying to keep glasses on their face, for example during sports activities.

Contact lenses come in soft and rigid gas-permeable varieties and can correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, or presbyopia.

The advantages of choosing contacts with your vision care benefits are the following:

  • Portable and convenient: Not only are they easy to take with you wherever you go, but they’re also great for people who want to switch between different activities without worrying about their vision.
  • No fogging or smudging: You won’t have to worry about foggy or wet lenses outside in rainy weather or humid climates.

Eyeglasses Vs. Contact Lenses: Which Is Best for You?

While contact lenses and glasses have advantages, the best option depends on your lifestyle and needs. People participating in sports or exposed to wet or windy weather often prefer wearing contact lenses. People suffering from dry, allergy eyes or working on computer screens may prefer wearing their eyeglasses.

Even if you do choose contact lenses, you need prescription eyeglasses. A backup pair of eyeglasses is still necessary for times like when you run out of contact solution, can’t clean your contacts properly, or just need to give your eyes a rest.

Cost, convenience, and the type of vision correction you need will all also influence your decision.

Ultimately, it’s best to speak with an experienced eye doctor about which option is right for you. Your optometrist can assess your eyes and provide personalized advice based on what will give the best vision correction for your needs.

Eye Doctor Near Me: Eye Wares Provides Quality Vision Care Experience

At Eye Wares, we provide an exceptional vision care experience and an easy way to purchase contact lenses or eyeglasses. Our team of eye care experts will help you determine the best vision correction for your lifestyle.

We are here to provide our customers with a simple way of getting the perfect fit for their eye care needs, whatever those needs may be. Whether you need a contact fitting, a comprehensive eye exam, prescription eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, or even nonprescription fashionable eyewear, Eye Wares can help!

No matter what your vision care needs are, our team of experienced optometrists is here to provide you with first class service. For prescription glasses or contact lenses, stop in to one of our three locations with your prescription or to book an eye exam – Uptown New Orleans, Old Metairie, or Mandeville. Eye Wares accepts all major medical and vision insurance.

Should I Use Vision Insurance to Buy Glasses or Contacts? - Eye Wares (2024)

FAQs

Should I Use Vision Insurance to Buy Glasses or Contacts? - Eye Wares? ›

Often, patients purchase vision insurance or VSP Vision Care to reduce the costs of eye exams and corrective eyewear

corrective eyewear
A corrective lens is a transmissive optical device that is worn on the eye to improve visual perception. The most common use is to treat refractive errors: myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. Glasses or "spectacles" are worn on the face a short distance in front of the eye.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Corrective_lens
. Vision insurance is a great way to ensure you get the coverage you need to pay for prescription glasses, contact lenses, comprehensive eye exams, or eye care.

Is glasses insurance worth it? ›

Typically, a vision discount plan works better for individuals who don't have many vision needs. If you do need vision-related goods or services with any amount of frequency, a vision insurance plan will likely save you more money than a vision discount plan.

Does insurance cover glasses and contacts at the same time? ›

Most vision insurance plans offer coverage for both contact lenses and eyeglasses. However, individuals will typically need to choose between using their benefits on eyeglasses or contact lenses. If your plan gives you an annual allowance, it's up to you to decide how to use it.

Should I elect vision insurance if I don't wear glasses? ›

Even if you don't need eyeglasses or contact lenses, it might be a good idea to get a vision insurance plan. Most vision plans can help cover routine eye exams, and some plans include coverage or allowances for frames and corrective lenses.

Which provide better vision contacts or glasses? ›

Because they sit on the surface of your eyes and move with them, contact lenses provide seamless vision correction. Their benefits extend to your peripheral vision and they won't have the same types of visual disruptions that glasses do, such as reflections or fogginess.

Is it better to use eye insurance for glasses or contacts? ›

Most plans, including VSP insurance, provide a higher benefit for glasses, allowing for the cost of both frames and lenses and usually amounting to almost double to what is given for contact lenses.

What are the disadvantages of vision insurance? ›

Cons of vision insurance are that it may not necessarily cover the type of service you need or will not allow you to travel out of its network for treatment. In addition, if there is a specific brand of lenses you like using, or specialized lenses or frames, it may offer a limited line of brands.

Is it cheaper to get glasses or contacts? ›

Contacts have a higher upfront cost than regular eyeglasses. That is because you can always buy glasses off-the-shelf at a lower cost.

How do contacts work with insurance? ›

If you're looking to switch out your eyeglasses with contact lenses, there's good news. Generally, most vision insurance plans include some coverage for contacts. Different plans can have different coverage options, so be sure to check with your healthcare provider to see what costs may be covered for you.

How many pair of glasses can you get with insurance? ›

In general, many plans offer coverage for one pair of prescription eyeglasses or prescription sunglasses and a set allowance for contact lenses per year.

What is the best vision insurance for seniors? ›

What is the best vision insurance for seniors?
  1. Direct Vision Insurance. Direct Vision is a vision insurance company that offers plans with low premiums, so it can be a good place to start. ...
  2. VSP. VSP is another popular option in the world of vision insurance for retirees and seniors. ...
  3. Spirit Dental and Vision Insurance.

Can your vision get worse without wearing glasses? ›

If you are an adult who needs corrective eyewear due to blurred vision, not using it does not worsen your eyes. However, it will make your eyes work harder. Glasses and contacts take some of the load off your eyes, reducing the unpleasant effects listed above. Most importantly, they correct your eyesight.

Is it better to wear no glasses or old prescription? ›

Wearing glasses with an expired prescription won't directly harm your eyes, but it can lead to some uncomfortable vision problems. Old glasses may have scratched lenses, which can make it hard to read. Additionally, the frames may get bent out of shape so that the glasses no longer fit comfortably.

Why is my vision blurry with contacts but not glasses? ›

You may find yourself constantly blinking, squinting, and rubbing your eyes to get a clearer view. Some of the possible causes of blurry vision while wearing contacts include a change in your prescription, deposits (like dirt) on the lens surface, dry eyes, allergies, infections, or other eye health problems.

Why do I see clearer with glasses than contacts? ›

Why does it happen? When you wear contact lenses there is no minimizing or maximizing the images you see. When you wear glasses, image size is being introduced into the equation. Think about it like using a magnifying glass.

What are the disadvantages of contact lenses? ›

Lenses are prone to shifting, dryness, and other complications. Eyes are more susceptible to infection with contact lens wear. There is a higher risk of bacterial infections with contact lens users. Infections can be caused by prolonged wear, build-up, bacteria, neglectful care and sleeping with contacts on.

Should I insure my glasses? ›

This can save you valuable time and energy when it comes to protecting your eye care investment. The glasses insurance helps to cover any repair and replacement costs for a set period of time, which is usually one year.

How much should glasses be with insurance? ›

Eyeglasses cost with insurance

Based on the average vision care benefits and the average cost of eyeglasses without insurance, the cost of eyeglasses with insurance may range from $64 to $1,180 or more. The average cost is around $185.

How does insurance work with eyeglasses? ›

Vision insurance works by providing coverage for your vision care costs in exchange for you paying a regular premium (usually monthly). Like with health insurance, your plan might have a vision care deductible, copay, and coinsurance you're responsible for in addition to your premium.

What are the pros of vision insurance? ›

Vision insurance helps cover the cost of caring for your eyes, particularly routine eye exams, prescription glasses and contacts. Some plans may also offer discounts for corrective surgery, such as LASIK.

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