1. When people think about the kinds of health insurance plans that are available and that they need, many think of medical and dental plans. Many often do not spend a lot of time thinking about vision health plans or eye insurance plans but many will need that. If you are responsible for buying health insurance plans for an organization or yourself, these tips may make the process simpler and help it make more sense.Make sure you are clear on what you are getting. There are a lot of different eye insurance plans out there. Before you spend any money on a supplemental health insurance plan or looking to expand the insurance benefits, you should know what is and is not included. For the most part, vision plans will include routine eye examinations and glasses or contact lenses. They may also cover glaucoma, macular degeneration, or cataracts but before you sign on the dotted line or pay for a plan, you should double check. Not all plans cover serious conditions.
2. Think you do not need this kind of coverage? Think again. It is much too easy for many people to opt out of certain kinds of coverage because they just cannot imagine ever needing it. A person can experience changes to their vision at just about any time during their lives. Young people who just graduated college may find they need glasses or contacts for the first time. Moreover, having your eyes checked over every 12 months can prevent small problems from growing to big ones and can help your overall health.
3. Check the plans to see if your doctor is part if the network. When you are looking into health and dental insurance plans, the chances are good that you probably check to make sure your doctor or dentist is in the network. If you know a good eye doctor, you should do the same thing. This will help make sure you actually use the benefits you are paying for and keep your eyes healthy. It is always less expensive to go to doctors who are in your network.
4. Make sure you really understand the plan. You may think you understand the deductibles, the life time out of pocket expenses and the limits on coverage but make it a point to go over all of that with the carrier before you sign up for any of their plans. Sometimes eye insurance plans only allow you to see an eye doctor once every 12 months and they may limit how often you can change out your glasses or contacts.
5. If you have Medicare, learn to use your plan with that. It has been estimated that about 10,000 people join the Medicare program every day. If that is you, you should look into how you can use your Medicare coverage to help with your eye health. There are a number of supplemental plans that people buy to cover the products and services they need that are not covered by the government program. There are even eye insurance plans that you can get as supplements to Medicare.
6. Look into your Health Savings Accounts. If you have money in a health savings account or HSA, you should look into using it for your eye health needs. This can really help if you find that you need new glasses but the plan you have will not cover the cost.
7. Think outside the box. Some people do not want to spend a lot on the frames for their glasses. There are a number of ways to get around paying a lot for frames. Some people go to consignment shops or antique places and find great frames they can use. Others look online. The bottom line is that you do not have to spend a lot to get great looking glasses. You may even find that if you go to some unique stores that you can get a really interesting and fun look that you may never have found any other way.

It has been said that “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” Keeping yours healthy and happy may depend on getting the right eye insurance plan.