Jim McGrann (l) and Peter
Bridgman.

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.— VSP Vision Care has entered into an agreement with Pearle Vision, a division of Luxottica Retail (NYSE: LUX), to provide VSP members access to Pearle Vision stores throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico as VSP network providers. VMail has learned that the phased rollout has begun and is expected to be completed early in the first quarter of 2015.

Jim McGrann, president of VSP Vision Care, told VMail, “The consumers of today and tomorrow want to know they have control over their health care decisions. Providing consumers with greater choice when it comes to accessing that care provides our members with the control they desire while providing VSP the opportunity to attract new members who will also benefit from the high quality of vision care available through VSP network providers.”

The new agreement is open to VSP’s more than 67 million members.

“As neighborhood eyecare professionals, it has always been our goal to ensure our patients have access to high quality doctors and genuine care,” said Pete Bridgman, senior vice president and general manager of Pearle Vision. “This relationship with VSP represents an opportunity for our independent licensed operators and corporate associates to welcome up to 67 million VSP members to our EyeCare Centers.”

VMail has also learned that Pearle Vision’s corporate-owned locations will immediately be added to VSP’s network of providers with its licensed operators beginning to roll into the program next month, a Pearle spokesperson said. There are currently 506 Pearle Vision locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (369 franchised and 137 corporate).

Of these, several Pearle Vision locations were already in the VSP Vision Care network, having been grandfathered in when VSP Vision Care’s regions throughout the country were rolled into one national operation, a VSP spokesperson said. Additional Pearle Vision locations became affiliated with VSP Vision Care in 2006 when VSP Vision Care took over the administration of Cigna’s Vision Care plan. “In regards to the history of VSP working with Pearle locations, through the Cigna relationship since 2006, Pearle was not ‘officially’ on the network, but all Pearle locations were considered and offered as a provider under the Cigna Vision plan, so there has been a longstanding working relationship with the majority of them,” the VSP spokesperson told VMail.

This new agreement will make Pearle Vision locations full in-network providers for VSP Vision Care, which differs from the affiliate relationships the managed vision care company has with other national chains such as Costco Optical and Visionworks. A VSP spokesperson declined further comment on that and described the separate affiliate program as follows: “Affiliate providers are limited to the retail stores and locations that are determined by the employer’s [or client’s] plan. The purpose of the affiliate program is to fill an access gap as well as a retail request from the employer.”

In a post today on the AsEyeSeeIt blog on the VSP Proves It site, Daniel Mannen, OD, FAAO, VSP global board of directors vice chairman, said, “This relationship addresses patient and client demands for options in mode of practice and facilitates expansion of the total VSP patient base.”