While consumer use of vision insurance held steady when used individually for eye exams or eyewear, it grew by 11 percent over the past five years when used for both, according to the
2013 Eyewear & Eye Care Consumer Patterns Insight Survey from
Jobson Research. Part of the Insight Survey Series examining eyewear and eyecare consumer patterns going back to April 2008, the study examines the factors that affect consumers’ eyeglasses and lens purchasing decisions.
As the bar graph indicates, 69 percent of eyewear and eyecare consumers used insurance for both their eye exam and eyewear in March of 2013. This is an 11 percent increase from data collected five years ago during April of 2008. The biggest increase during that period was from March 2009 to January/March 2010, when consumer usage of vision insurance for both eye exams and eyewear jumped 8 percent, from 59 percent to 67 percent, in a single year.