Month: November 2023

It’s that time of year again! Time to look at your Vision benefits and evaluate your health savings options to see if you need to use it before you lose it. We see it happen all the time, you contribute to your FSA or HSA all year long. Before you know it December rolls around and you need to use what you have saved. We also want to touch on HRA’s which your employer may be contributing to on your behalf.

Many employers offer different types of health savings accounts. While we know this time of year can be busy enough, we wanted to try to help weed through the different kinds of health savings.

Three Major Health Savings Options

HRA – Health Reimbursement Account

This type of account is an employer funded plan that reimburses employees for qualified medical expenses. Reimbursement dollars that employees receive are usually tax free. Your employer will decide how much they will put into the plan. Then, you as the employee can request reimbursement for medical expenses up to that amount. 

Each HRA plan is going to be set up differently depending on the employer. It’s important to discuss your options with your HR rep at work. They will be able to tell you exactly what the HRA funds can be used for so that you stay compliant.

FSA-Flexible Spending Account

This type of account is the type you want to plan carefully how much you save. This type of account can be used to help pay for copay deductibles and prescriptions. You don’t pay any taxes on this money so it can be helpful to contribute throughout the year if you can accurately estimate your family’s needs. This is the one to watch though, if you still have funds in there this late in the year, you want to make sure to use them.

HSA-Health Savings Account

This type of account also allows you to put in pretax dollars, but you don’t have to worry about losing the funds at the end of the year.

Whether you have an HSA or an FSA TriCounty Eye Associates could be the perfect use of those hard-earned dollars you put aside for health expenses. Maybe you or someone in your family needs new glasses or sunglasses? Maybe you just haven’t made the time yet this year to schedule your yearly appointment?

What is the difference between an HSA and FSA?

HSA – Health Savings Account 

• You or your employer contribute pre tax dollars
• Unused contributions roll over year after year
• HSAs must accompany a high deductible health plan (individual or through employer
• Withdrawals are allowed with 10% penalty
• HSAs have higher contribution maximum than FSAs

FSA – Flexible Spending Account

• Typically FSA funds must be used by the end of the plan or calendar year
• Account cannot be used after you leave the employer
• FSAs must accompany group insurance through employer
• Withdrawals are not allowed

What Can you use your HSA or FSA funds on?

Your vision insurance is probably going to cover  one set of glasses or give you an allowance on what you can spend. If you contribute to a FSA or HSA you can use those funds to purchase the more expensive frames you want, or more than one pair of glasses to switch out your frames form time to time.  In general you can use your funds for:

• Reading glasses
• Progressives
• Prescription blue light glasses 
• Prescription anti-fatigue glasses
• Prescription glasses
• Prescription sunglasses

You can also choose to use your funds on contacts if they are medically necessary!

There are other things you can use the funds on as well aside form hardware. Other approved expenses would be eye exams, LASIK, copays and deductibles, eyeglass cleaning supplies and eye drops!  It is important to check with your individual FSA or HSA provider to make sure anything that might fall into a grey area is covered. 

What is NOT Eligible?

While there are so many things you can use these funds on there are still some things you shouldn’t use it on.

• Non-prescription glasses
• Non-prescription sunglasses
• Non-prescription  contacts
• Insurance premiums
• How to use your funds

This is going to depend on your specific plan. Some proivders will send you a debit card that you can use on the approved expenses. Other plans will require you to pay out of pocket but get reimbursed so it is important to hang on to receipts. 

Vision Insurance Limitations

Another part of your insurance you want to be aware of is the Vision Plan you have. Depending on the type of plan you have you may be limited to a certain number of frames, lenses, contacts, or eye exams per year. Make sure you get it in during the calendar or plan the year your plan supports. You pay for these benefits so don’t let them go to waste!

Bottom Line

FSA and HSA accounts can be a great way for you to set aside pre-taxed funds to spend on health expenses throughout the year. When enrolling in your employers benefits, make sure to take a look at the average expenses your family has each year to determine how much to contribute to your plan. HRA’s are also great because its extra money your employer is giving you to help pay for medical expenses. Make sure to make the most of the benefits your employer offers!

Call us today to schedule your end-of-the-year appointment and make sure to utilize your vision benefits in every way possible.

We have talked about this new lens technology on our blog before. We thought it was worth another look considering the amazing benefits of these lenses. Keep reading to see if they will be a good fit for you!

What is Neurolens?

Neurolens are specifically designed lenses that use a contoured prism to realign your eyes and relieve pressure on the trigeminal nerve. These lenses are designed to help with digital eye strain and help with reading or doing work up close.

In today’s world, blue light is almost completely unavoidable. We all work or spend time on a laptop, smartphone or watching a television. Blue light has been proven to cause digital eyestrain. You can check out more about digital eye strain in our other blog here: PUT LINK HERE

How does Neurolens Work?

It has been found that there is a direct correlation between the trigeminal nerve and the eyes. The trigeminal nerve is the biggest nerve connected to the brain and responsible for neck and head sensations. Headaches, tension and eye strain are caused by misaligned eye’s that can put pressure on this nerve.

There is a specialized diagnostic that Neurolens uses to try to find any misalignment in the eyes and what the severity of the problem is. Once the measurement device measures where the gap between your eyes should be versus where it actually is, it can determine if you have a misalignment and how to fix it. It is a very quick and easy test.

Neurolens is the first to use a contoured prism that helps with misalignment at different distances.

Benefits of Neurolens

If you suffer from digital eye strain, this could be the best solution for you. The main symptoms of digital eye strain are:

• Eye strain
• Headache
• Neck and shoulder tension or pain
• Eye irritation
• Dry Eyes

Neurolens has helped so many people already to relieve them of these symptoms.

Is Neurolens for you?

It is best to talk to your eye doctor about your options. If you spend a lot of time on a computer or struggle to read, and suffer from any of the above symptoms you could be a perfect candidate!

Next time you are in for an eye exam, ask us about it!

One of our favorite things to do with our blogs is to educate our patients. There is so much misinformation out there, we want to make sure our blogs are accurate and informative

There are many vision problems you could suffer from, but there are four main vision errors that are more common than the rest. These four errors are the main Refractive errors your eye doctor is looking for when doing a vision test.

What are Refractive Errors?

Refractive errors happen when your eye shape keeps light from focusing correctly on your retina. These types of errors make it hard to see clearly.

These are the most common types of vision problem, more than 150 million Americans have a refractive error. Sometimes the vision impairment isn’t as obvious so many people do not know they could be seeing better. Eye exams are an important step to finding out if you have a refractive error and your eye doctor can help determine the best way to fix it.

What are the 4 types?

There are four common types of refractive errors:

• Nearsightedness (myopia) – this error makes far away objects look blurry.
• Farsightedness (hyperopia)- this error makes nearby objects look blurry.
• Astigmatism – this error makes objects look blurry or distorted regardless of how far away they are.
• Presbyopia – this error is prevalent in middle aged or older adults and makes it hard for them to see things up close.

Symptoms

There are many symptoms associated with these refractive errors. Some symptoms include:

• Headaches
• Squinting
• Hazy Vision
• Double Vision
• Seeing a glare or halo around bright lights
• Eye Strain
• Trouble focusing

Since it is so easy to mis-interpret, or not realize that you are suffering from these symptoms it is so important to have regular eye exams. Your eye doctor is going to be able to diagnose you, even if you haven’t realized you have an issue.

What Causes These Errors?

Refractive errors in vision can be caused by many different things. Your eyeball length, problems with the shape of your cornea, and aging of the lens of your eye are just a few things that can cause it.

Some things to keep in mind are that Refraction is the bending of light rays as they pass through one object to another. The cornea and lens bend light rays to focus them on the retina. When the shape of the eye changes, it also changes the way light rays bend and focus which in turn can cause blurry vision.

Treatment

Once your eye doctor determines what refractive error you are suffering from, they will recommend your best options for treatment.

Some treatments include, glasses, contacts or even surgery. Your eye doctor will help walk you through the best options for you!