Ken Stellmacher.

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.—The individual insurance plan VSP Vision Care began offering last year in certain states for insurance brokers to sell directly to consumers, originally reported by VMail in December 2013, has now been rolled out to the entire country. Created exclusively for brokers, the program is now available in all 50 states.

Licensed brokers nationwide can now sell VSP individual vision insurance plans through a website hosted by VSP that allows clients to self-enroll. “Millions of people are without vision coverage, and we want to increase access to care for those who wouldn’t otherwise be covered through an employer,” said Ken Stellmacher, senior vice president and general manager of VSP Individual Plans.

“Our mission is to help people see, and one of the ways we do that is by supplying brokers with a valuable product that is affordable for their clients. Also, with adult vision care not offered as part of the new public health insurance exchanges, this is a great avenue to make vision care easily accessible to consumers.”

Individual agents can register to become authorized sellers of the VSP individual vision insurance product, which is offered to consumers for less than $16 a month. The individual and family plans include a fully covered eye exam with a $15 copay, a $150 allowance for frames or contacts, and, in most states, a fully covered contact lens exam and fitting with no copay, and specialty services to treat eye conditions like pink eye and diabetic retinopathy.

Individuals who sign up for the plan will have access to VSP’s more than 30,000 providers nationally, a VSP spokesperson told VMail. Before the national rollout, which started mid-May 2014, more than 1,000 individuals had already enrolled in the individual plan pilot program, the spokesperson said.