Amid COVID-19, Access to Essential Medical Eye Care Services for VSP Members Extended Through June 2021

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - As part of its ongoing response to serve member needs during the pandemic, VSP Global^® announced it will extend access to essential medical eye care services for VSP Vision Care^®  insured members and their covered dependents through June 30, 2021. The company first expanded the supplemental medical eye care services in April 2020 for detection, treatment, and management of ocular and vision conditions, enabling members to see VSP network doctors in-person or remotely for conditions like conjunctivitis, eye trauma, and sudden changes to vision. VSP members can also use their routine coverage for lost or broken glasses or replacement contact lenses to meet immediate eyewear needs by contacting their VSP network doctor.

“By extending access to essential medical eye care to more of our members, we’re helping connect them with their VSP network doctor for critical eye care when they may need it most,” said VSP Vision Care President Kate Renwick-Espinosa. “This helps alleviate demand on other medical professionals and emergency rooms which are under great strain right now.”  

According to the American Optometric Association, eye doctors who treat eye emergencies directly help divert up to 10% of patients away from emergency rooms and hospitals. An example of an eye doctor who provided this type of critical emergency eye care is Dr. Kenneth Sakazaki, OD, of Sacramento Optometric Group, who removed a piece of metal from a 7-year old’s eye during shelter-in-place orders in California last year. The young girl had a fleck of metal stuck on her cornea and was suffering red, burning, teary, and irritated eyes. The girl’s mother was worried but didn’t want to take her daughter to urgent care or the ER because of potential exposure to the coronavirus, so she called her VSP network doctor.

“If the metal stayed in there, worst case scenario, the metal could have embedded into the tissue and actually started to rust. That could have resulted in further inflammation and further complications,” explained Dr. Sakazaki. Not only was Dr. Sakazaki able to treat this patient and protect her vision, he was able to do it without any further burden to local area hospitals.

For more stories of essential medical eye care provided by VSP network doctors throughout the pandemic, click here.

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About VSP Global
VSP Global is a doctor-governed company that exists to create value for members and opportunities for VSP network doctors. Our industry-leading businesses include VSP^® Vision Care, the only national not-for-profit vision benefits company, which provides access to eye care for nearly 90 million members through a network of over 40,000 doctors worldwide; Marchon^® Eyewear Inc., one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers and distributors of high-quality eyewear and sunwear; VSP Optics, industry leaders in ophthalmic technology and lab services, providing custom lens solutions for the vision and lifestyle needs of patients; Eyefinity^®, the industry leader in practice management and electronic health record software; VSP Retail, which focuses on increasing access to eye care and eyewear through multiple channels, and VSP^® Ventures, which offers care-focused, customized choices for doctors looking to transition their practice.