Vision insurance reimburses $40 for a $350 pair of glasses and calls it coverage

Standard vision insurance plans like VSP and EyeMed charge $15-25/month ($180-300/year) in premiums but cap frame allowances at $130-150 and lens allowances at $40-80 for basic single-vision, meaning a patient who needs progressives with anti-reflective coating still pays $200-350 out of pocket on top of their annual premiums. This makes vision insurance a net negative for many patients — they pay more in premiums than they would buying glasses at an online retailer without insurance. The plans persist because employers bundle vision with medical/dental as a benefits package, so employees never compare the premium cost against actual reimbursement. VSP, which controls 40% of the US vision insurance market, also owns its own lab network and steers patients to affiliated providers, creating the same vertical integration problem as Luxottica but on the payer side.