The Avesis eyewear plan (PDF) is one of the optional benefits available to Iowa State employees during open enrollment, which begins tomorrow, Nov. 1. Employees who wear glasses or contact lenses but haven't opted for the coverage in the past are encouraged to consider it for 2025 before open enrollment closes Nov. 22.
Open enrollment
Nov. 1-22 in Workday
For the plan year that begins Jan. 1, Iowa State's Employee Benefits Advisory Committee negotiated more generous Avesis coverage on lens enhancements, with modest premium increases -- from a 47-cent increase/month for employee-only coverage to a $1.73 increase/month for family coverage.
"We received some comments in the [Fall 2022] benefits survey requesting a richer eyewear plan, so that's something we pursued for the 2025 plan year," said benefits manager Ed Holland, university human resources. "The intent was to make changes to the coverage without significantly raising the premium."
Avesis premium (monthly)
|
Who's covered |
Plan year 2025 |
Current |
|
Employee |
$7.14 |
$6.67 |
|
Employee and spouse |
$13.29 |
$12.58 |
|
Employee and children |
$15.04 |
$13.77 |
|
Employee and family |
$19.44 |
$17.71 |
Full coverage on common lens enhancements
The key change in the 2025 Avesis plan is full coverage of a handful of eyewear lens enhancements: polycarbonate (vs. a standard plastic), scratch-resistance, anti-reflective, ultra-violet screening and tinting. The combined retail value of those five enhancements is about $268. This year, employees who selected any of those lens upgrades paid half of their retail price; in 2025 they won't pay anything.
Based on 2023 claims submitted by ISU employees, Holland said the additional savings to employees in 2025 on those five lens enhancements would exceed $180,000.
Robust eyewear network
In 2025, the Avesis plan covers one pair of glasses per year for all covered employees and family members; the same as 2024. Coverage on frames and the lenses themselves won't change in 2025.
Contact lens coverage also remains unchanged in 2025: full coverage for medically necessary contacts and a $130 annual benefit on elective contacts, with a 10% discount on costs exceeding $130.
The Avesis eyewear network in central Iowa provides employees many options. Within a 20-mile radius of Ames are more than 15 in-network providers, including McFarland Eye Center, Vogue Vision, Walmart Vision Center, Eye Works, Wolfe Clinic, Whylie Eye Care Center, Boone Vision Center, Polk City Eyecare, Pearle Vision, Vision 4 Less, the Huxley and Nevada Vision Clinics and more.
