4 Reasons To Use Your Vision Benefits Before The End of The Year

Vision is easily the most precious of your five senses. The gift of sight enables you to see a loved one smile, read a life-changing book, and perform everyday tasks you may take for granted. You need to protect and preserve your vision in every way you can. Wearing appropriate protection in the glaring Florida sun to guard against UV damage, maintaining a healthy lifestyle including diet and exercise, and visiting your eye doctor for regular check-ups are all important.

If you’re fortunate enough to work for a company that offers vision benefits, in addition to medical and dental, you should absolutely take advantage of such a worthwhile perk. Even if you pride yourself on 20/20 vision, you never know when that may change. With today’s technology, computer screens and the everyday demands you place on your eyes, chances are good that you may need glasses or contacts at some point in your life.

For those with a family, it’s even more crucial to accept vision insurance as part of your overall company benefits package. Glasses and contacts can take a huge bite out of your savings. Regular visits to the eye doctor are as much a part of raising a healthy family as trips to the dentist and orthodontist. Having help from your vision insurance and flex spending account can alleviate a lot of the financial burden of vision care.

Having vision insurance through your place of employment is a wonderful asset. Vision insurance will surely help defray some of the cost of keeping your eyes in check. If your benefits include a flexible spending account, a popular part of many benefits packages these days, your out-of-pocket eye care costs can be easily covered by this special savings plan. But, you’d better plan wisely. Your flex account does expire at the end of the calendar year.

How Your Flexible Spending Account Works

A flexible spending account is simply a tax-free savings plan that allows you to set money aside to pay for many of your health-related expenses. As an employee, you choose a portion of your wages, pre-tax, and up to $5,000 annually to go into your flex account, pre-tax. This means the money set aside for co-pays, medical supplies, glasses and contacts isn’t a part of your taxable income.

The positive aspect of a flex spending account is having money already available for such costs as medical, dental or vision care. The only downside, if there is one, is that you must spend the money in your flex account prior to the end of the year, or you will lose the funds which remain in your flexible spending account. These funds don’t rollover into the next year and whatever remains in your flex account as of December 31 will be lost.

There are some pretty valid reasons to use your flexible spending account and vision benefits before the end of the year. Obviously, no one wants to lose the money they’ve poured into their flexible spending account and if you haven’t had any medical issues, there could be quite a bit left untouched. Some further points to consider are:

Vision-Related Costs

As part of your vision insurance, your flex account can be used for you, or your insured family members, to visit the eye doctor for exams as well as prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses. Contacts and, especially, eyeglasses can take a huge chunk out of your health-care budget. Use your vision flex account before the end of the year and not only will you avoid losing your flex dollars, you’ll offset the high cost of vision care.

Use it or Lose it

Since most flex dollars expire December 31, making the end of the year your time to concentrate on vision health makes perfect sense. You can schedule your annual eye exams, update your glasses and contacts, and address any issues that may have arisen over the course of the year, all while taking advantage of your tax-free flexible savings account.

Pediatricians and children's healthcare professionals agree, once your child begins school, annual eye exams are an important part of keeping your child healthy and happy. Schedule your child’s annual exam and use your flex spending and vision benefits in the best possible way.

Winter Break is Ideal

For today’s busy families, scheduling the necessary appointments for children, especially college-age kids, can be difficult. Finding time on packed calendars for eye exams can be a real chore. What better time to ensure your student will be available for an appointment with the eye doctor than during winter break? You don’t want to let it go and not only lose your vision benefits for the year but more importantly, risk your child’s vision.

There is No Rollover

By wasting your benefits, you're throwing money away. Use up every bit of your tax-free dollars and purchase some new contact lenses. Toss those old eyeglasses and go for a new look for the new year. If you have the money in your flex account, take advantage.

We take your eye health very seriously. The gift of sight is precious and eye care is essential for maintaining eye health. For nearly 40 years, Valuvision has been serving the needs of the Jacksonville area. If you have any questions regarding your flexible spending account and your vision benefits, our knowledgeable staff will be happy to help you. Contact us today and protect your vision while using your flex dollars