Is Vision Important?

Vision is important. Most of us couldn’t do our jobs if our vision becomes compromised, and our activities of daily living would be more challenging. Corrective lenses are important, but eye health is about so much more. There are many eye diseases that begin with mild visual impairment, but ultimately progress to vision loss and even blindness. Eye health is also an indicator of health in general, including systemic, often life-threatening health issues that optometrists can identify through a comprehensive eye examination.

In this blog we share some key facts about vision care that every plan member, plan sponsor, advisor and insurer should know, whether they need glasses or contacts for vision correction, or their vision is 20/20.

1. Vision health needs increase with age¹

Percentage of people that self-report a corrected vision problem through glasses or contacts:

2. Myopia is increasing and can be mitigated through lifestyle changes - Adequate vision care coverage is essential for prevention education and to diagnose and manage myopia:
   1. Myopia is a vision disease in which objects in the distance are out of focus.
   2. Myopia rates are increasing. By 2050, it is predicted that 50% of the global population will have myopia.²
   3. Myopia is associated with increased screen time and near work.³ Children should spend time outside and away from their screens.
   4. High myopia can lead to retinal detachment, cataracts, glaucoma and myopic maculopathy.⁴
       
3. Comprehensive eye examinations that include advanced diagnostic imaging can identify eye diseases and other systemic diseases early. The most common diagnostics are:
   1. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) – 3D image of the layers of the retina
   2. Widefield Retinal Imaging – wider area of the back of the eye

Optometrists use these critical technologies during comprehensive examinations and recall exams, both before and after a diagnosis.

4. Early detection can prevent more than 90% of vision loss - Many common eye diseases can be identified early through OCT and widefield retinal imaging to mitigate vision loss:
   1. Macular degeneration (2.5 million Canadians)⁵ – affects central vision
   2. Glaucoma (close to 750,00 Canadians)⁵ – affects peripheral vision
   3. Diabetic Retinopathy (approximately 1,037,000 Canadians)⁵ – presents as patches of vision loss or disruption across the field of vision.

Twenty percent of Canadians have an eye disease that may lead to blindness.⁵ Testing during a comprehensive examination is critical for early detection.

5. An optometrist's scope reaches well beyond refraction – Using diagnostic imaging, optometrists can detect systemic diseases and refer for diagnosis, including:

• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Heart disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Tumours
• Crohn’s disease

These are just some of the systemic diseases that optometrists can detect through a comprehensive examination.

Closing the gap in vision care benefits should be a priority. Approximately 75% of private vision care expenditures were incurred by Canadians out-of-pocket.⁶ When people are required to pay out of pocket for a portion of services, they are less likely to use them. This puts people at risk of undiagnosed and unmanaged vision and systemic diseases. 

Vision care is a low investment-high return benefit. Now is not the time to remove vision care benefits from the insured portion of group plans or suggest vision care claims should be submitted to health care spending accounts. Not every plan has a spending account and those that do already have many other under insured or non-insured expenses competing for their dollars. 

Group vision coverage for comprehensive and recall examinations is a cost effective and easy fix to group benefit coverage. Here are three areas the Canadian Association of Optometrists recommend that you review:

• Ensure you are providing a sufficient allowance for diagnostic imaging as an important part of the comprehensive examination.
• Add diagnostic imaging wording in the vision care benefit under comprehensive examinations.
• Include an additional allowance for a partial follow-up examination when an optometrist is monitoring eye health more closely or there is already a diagnosis of a serious eye disease. 

By providing adequate vision coverage for early detection and management, presenteeism, absenteeism and disability costs can be mitigated.  

Look for our next blog on dry eye disease and why it’s more than an inconvenience.

You’ll find more information on prevention, early detection and managing diseases through CAO blogs, podcasts, and webinars. Want to know more? You can find our handbook and blog posts here on the Don’t Lose Sight website or contact the CAO for more information or assistance at info@opto.ca. 

References

1. Finès P. Self-reported eye health in Canada: 20 years of data. Statistics Canada Health Report. 2022.
2. Liang J, Pu Y, Chen J, et al. Global prevalence, trend and projection of myopia in children and adolescents from 1990 to 2050: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Ophthalmol. 2025;109(3):362-371. Published 2025 Feb 24. doi:10.1136/bjo-2024-325427
3. Biswas S, El Kareh A, Qureshi M, et al. The influence of the environment and lifestyle on myopia. J Physiol Anthropol. 2024;43(1):7. Published 2024 Jan 31. doi:10.1186/s40101-024-00354-7
4. Haarman AEG, Enthoven CA, Tideman JWL, Tedja MS, Verhoeven VJM, Klaver CCW. The Complications of Myopia: A Review and Meta-Analysis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020;61(4):49. doi:10.1167/iovs.61.4.49
5. Deloitte. The cost of vision loss and blindness in Canada. https://www.fightingblindness.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Deloitte-Cost-of-vision-loss-and-blindness-in-Canada-report-May-2021.pdf. Published May 2021.
6. Canadian Institute for Health Information. National health expenditure trends. https://www.cihi.ca/en/national-health-expenditure-trends#data-tables. Published November 7, 2024.