How to Actually Use Your Vision Benefits Before Year-End

If your vision plan runs on the calendar year, many of its benefits renew on January 1, and an unused annual benefit generally doesn’t carry forward. Some benefits, such as frames, may run on a longer cycle, so check each one’s next eligible date in your plan summary. If you also set money aside in a flexible spending account, that money usually has a deadline of its own.

Unused vision-plan benefits and FSA or HSA dollars can help pay for care your family already needs: an eye exam, new glasses, a fresh supply of contacts. Here’s how to sort out what you have and put it to use before the reset.

COVE accepts VSP and EyeMed vision plans. Plan terms vary, but most describe three separate benefits:

Some plans cover glasses or contacts in a given year rather than both, and upgrades may carry their own copays. We verify what we can in advance and confirm the rest with you at your visit.

Both accounts let you pay for eligible health expenses with pre-tax money. The difference is what happens to the money you don’t spend.

FSA: set up through your employer, with a deadline

A health flexible spending account (FSA) is offered through your employer. You choose an amount for the plan year, and it comes out of your paycheck before taxes. FSAs are generally use-it-or-lose-it: the money pays for eligible expenses during the plan year, and what’s left at the end is forfeited.

Your employer can soften that with one of two options, not both:

Some plans offer neither, and your plan year may not match the calendar year. Your plan may also allow time after year-end to submit claims for expenses from the plan year. Your employer’s plan documents set these rules, so check each deadline with your plan administrator.

HSA: your account, and the balance rolls over

You can contribute to a health savings account (HSA) when you’re covered by an HSA-eligible, high-deductible health plan and meet the other IRS requirements, such as not being enrolled in Medicare. Starting in 2026, bronze and catastrophic individual plans available through the Health Insurance Marketplace also count as HSA-eligible.

Money in an HSA carries over from year to year, and the account stays with you if you change jobs. That means HSA dollars have no year-end deadline. The deadline that matters for an HSA holder is the vision plan’s.

One exception to watch: some employers pair an HSA with a limited-purpose FSA for dental and vision expenses. That account is an FSA, so FSA deadline rules apply to it.

What eyecare these accounts commonly cover

Under IRS rules, eligible medical expenses generally include eye exams, prescription glasses and contact lenses needed for medical reasons, and the supplies you need to wear those contacts, such as solution. An FSA plan sets its own list within those rules, so confirm it with your plan administrator. HSA spending follows the IRS rules directly, and it’s up to you to keep receipts.

At COVE you can pay with an HSA or FSA card at checkout. If you pay another way, we’re happy to print an itemized receipt for your FSA claim or your HSA records. If you have VSP or EyeMed, we apply that benefit first, and you can put FSA or HSA dollars toward the rest.

Book the eye exam. The American Optometric Association recommends regular comprehensive eye exams for adults, yearly for many people depending on age and risk factors. If this year’s exam benefit is unused, start here.

Get new glasses, or a pair for a specific job. If your prescription changed or your frames have seen better days, the frames and lens allowance is built for this. Prescription eyewear for a specific task can generally be paid for with FSA or HSA dollars too. Computer glasses are set for the distance of your screen, which can make long days of screen and desk work more comfortable. Prescription sunglasses are another common choice. Our opticians will walk you through the options.

Stock up on contacts. If you wear contacts and still have a contact lens allowance or FSA dollars left, put them toward lenses you’ll wear anyway. Order your next supply, or pick up an extra box so you have spares on hand if a lens tears or you run low. Read more about contact lenses at COVE.

If you don’t carry a vision plan, COVE Plus is our program for that: a complete eye exam from $175 per appointment, contact lens services for a flat $275, and a $75 glasses credit per appointment that family members can share. FSA and HSA dollars work with COVE Plus too.

If you have vision benefits or FSA dollars left this year, we’ll help you put them to use. We’ll tell you what we can confirm before your visit and go over the rest together when you’re here. Schedule online or call Central Ohio Vision and Eyecare at (614) 933-0575. We see families from New Albany, Gahanna, Westerville, Johnstown, and across Central Ohio.