RELATED CONTENT

In three to five years, more than one-quarter of employers are considering moving to a private exchange, according to recent surveys by Aon Hewitt and Mercer, both of which manage private exchanges that include vision benefit options.

With the potential for increased enrollment, this could be good news for vision plans and could ultimately result in more patients seeking eyecare. According to the Kaiser Foundation, “employers have more control over how to allocate their benefit dollars between medical and ancillary plans, and exchange sponsors report that consumers appear to be re-allocating dollars from medical to ancillary.”

As more companies make the transition to private health insurance exchanges, the managed vision care executives that Vision Monday interviewed all also predict that this will result in more patients accessing eyecare.

“We help people see by providing access to affordable, high quality eyecare and eyewear, and there are all different paths to provide this, so private exchanges are something we’re very interested in,” VSP Vision Care president, Jim McGrann, told Vision Monday. “As another vehicle to provide access, it will increase focus and attention on the importance of eye health. Overall, its impact on optometrists is that it will increase access.”

Andrew Alcorn, president of Superior Vision Benefit Management, agrees that private exchanges will ultimately result in more access to more patients. “Optometrists could potentially see the number of people covered by vision plans continue to grow because all private exchanges will have a vision component that may or may not have been available as a benefit package earlier,” he said. “More and more Americans will certainly have access to vision care.”

Jeff Everson, general manager for VSP Vision Care’s strategic alliance/private exchange business unit, added, “It gives members a choice of how they want access to vision care, and that’s why it’s important for us and others to participate. Every day another private exchange asks us to take part. We see a big enrollment in 2016.”

Celina Burns, president of Davis Vision, agrees that 2016 will be the year for substantial growth among private exchanges. “We’re projecting significant momentum in the private exchange space in 2016 and beyond,” she told Vision Monday, and studies support that prediction. (See chart on “Public vs. Private Exchange Annual Enrollment.”)

Dave Bailey, senior vice president and national practice leader of UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits, which offers the vision plan ranked highest by J.D. Power last year, said, “When private exchanges evolve and get traction, we’ll have more and more opportunities to cover members with vision plans.”

jsailer@jobson.com