A new year is here, and with it comes the hope that brighter days are ahead. In 2020, many people postponed routine health care due to the pandemic. This year, Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) encourages everyone to resolve to focus on their health, including their vision, and to get an eye exam.

This press release was also published on PRNewswire.

Clear vision is important for everyone, but especially for kids. In the U.S., one in four schoolchildren has a vision problem significant enough to affect their ability to learn. Vision impacts every aspect of a child’s life, from learning, confidence and social interaction to participation in activities such as sports, art and music. Yet children often don’t know to ask for the help they desperately need because they don’t know they can’t see clearly. To them, blurry vision is normal.

How to get vision care

Once a child is diagnosed with a vision problem, many parents don’t know how to get vision care. There are options including:

• Under Medicaid, eye exams, frames and lenses for children under 21 are covered by the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment program.
• A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) lets consumers contribute money to a special account that can be used to cover medical bills and certain out-of-pocket health care costs. An FSA can be used to pay for vision care expenses such as eye exams, prescription eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, reading glasses, and contact lenses.
• Vision non-profits are another option. Organizations like Lions Clubs and Prevent Blindness can help people find low- or no-cost eye exams and glasses in their area.

Essilor Vision Foundation helps people in need

EVF believes it takes a community to serve the millions of people in the U.S. who need vision care. While everyone can do their part to ensure their own family gets annual eye exams, the foundation helps those who otherwise would not be able to afford a vision exam and glasses by working with eye doctors, schools, nonprofits and communities. EVF’s programs address the obstacles of awareness, access and affordability that many people face when it comes to vision care:

• Kids Vision for Life (KVFL) provides free vision exams and glasses to low-income children through mobile clinics that travel to elementary schools. Students receive a vision exam with a licensed eye doctor, and opticians help children choose their own frames. Most students get their new glasses the same day.
• Changing Life through Lenses^® provides a free pair of glasses when an eye doctor gives a vision exam to a patient in need. The program is for eye doctors and vision non-profits, not individual patients, and allows them to give back in their own communities. The majority of vision non-profits in the U.S. also participate in the program to help patients who cannot afford glasses.
• See Kids Soar^® is an in-office donation campaign intended to help eye doctors inspire their patients and staff to adopt the cause of vision, and give them an opportunity to raise awareness and donate funds to help people see clearly.
• Champions for Sight^™ is a free program for schools. Teachers and school nurses are often the first adults to suspect that a child may have a vision problem, and they play a key role in making sure kids receive vision care. This program offers vision-related educational materials for use in the classroom and at home.

Media Contact: Meredith Marmurek | Email: meredith.marmurek@essilorusa.com | 214-850-3642