EMPLOYEES NEED TO EXPRESS EYE CONCERNS.

Byline: Denise Mann Medical Tribune News Service

Only about 40 percent of United States employers offer eye-care insurance in their employee benefits packages, despite the fact that most Americans consider sight to be their most important sense, according to a poll of more than 1,000 people that was released here late last month.

But about 90 percent of employers said that if employees made their health-insurance concerns better known, insurance policies would reflect their wishes, according to a second poll, which surveyed 200 insurance executives and corporate benefits coordinators and 200 doctors and eye specialists.

The survey results, released at a press briefing sponsored by Florida-based lens manufacturer Transitions Optical, found that although 80 percent of Americans say sight is their most valued sense, most lack important knowledge about vision care and vision insurance.

In an effort to increase public awareness, Transitions Optical announced a new program - called Transitions in Managed Vision Care - which is aimed at teaching consumers, employers, doctors and insurance companies how to get, and give, the most out of their eye-care coverage.

Employees need to let employers know that vision coverage is important to them, urged John W. Lahr, a Minneapolis-based optometrist.

Of people who have vision benefits included in their health plans, ``most are uninformed about how to get the most out of the vision benefits,'' said Lahr, also the spokesman for Transitions in Managed Vision Care.

In the survey of 1,006 adults, only 41 percent of those polled said they have yearly eye exams.

But even if a person doesn't wear glasses or contact lenses, he should have an eye exam at least every two years because most eye diseases come on without symptoms or warnings, according to eye experts who spoke at the briefing.

People ``need to understand that preventive care is very important, preventive eye care should start in school and continue on through the lifetime,'' said Dr. Karen Sherrill Kaul, an ophthalmologist at the Montgomery Eye Center in Naples, Fla.

``Preventive care and establishing a relationship with an eye doctor are the best insurance for good eye health throughout a lifetime,'' Kaul added.

Important questions that people should ask their employers about eye-care benefits include:

If, and how often, are preventive eye exams covered?

Do you need a referral from your primary-care doctor before seeing an eye specialist?

What part of the exam does the insurance plan cover?

Does it include eye wear?

Is there a co-payment?

The new public awareness campaign will include a toll-free number that provides consumers with information on how to talk to employers about vision-care benefits, a media and advertising campaign, a web page and an education program for professionals on the importance of eye health.

For a free brochure titled ``How to Get the Most Out of Your Vision Care Plan,'' call [phone].