ix years ago when purse strings were tightened at the Merced City School
District in California, Ellen Kraft, Risk Management Technician, was forced to
look at the district’s ancillary lines. Responsible for 1,200 employees at some
20 different sites, Kraft wanted to be certain that the school district was
getting the most for their money when it came to vision care. With assurances
that a competitor’s vision plan would offer "almost" the same level of benefits
as VSP, at a lower price point, Kraft decided to switch.
The employee reaction after the switch was far from positive. According to
Kraft, the district experienced difficulties with plan providers, customer
service was poor and the volume of complaints was considerable. Soon after,
Kraft realized the change was not worth it. "We were so used to the exceptional
service from VSP. It’s very hard to duplicate that. The members were so
dissatisfied and it takes a lot of time to handle employee complaints. I ended
up spending a large portion of my time handling employee complaints."
Kraft is emphatic that the cost savings was not worth the hassle. "If the
price had been a third or a quarter of VSP’s cost, it still wouldn’t have been
worth it to switch carriers. I’ve learned a hard lesson, that you get what you
pay for."
International Network Services, Inc.
Another "boomerang" client, Santa Clara, California based International
Network Services, Inc. (INS), a leading vendor-independent provider of global
network consulting and security services, became a VSP client in 1998, but
switched to another vision carrier after being acquired by Lucent Technologies,
Inc. With the switch came a dramatic change for INS employees. Julie Threet,
INS’s Director of Compensation and Benefits acknowledges "after the switch,
vision became one of the biggest employee issues."
Their new vision benefit had a large chain component, and Threet says her
employees missed VSP’s large doctor network and member service features. "Our
engineers travel all the time based on their assignment and can’t be constricted
by chains. They are technical and want to know they can go to a Web site and
find a doctor they can see in the city they are in. They want their spouse to
have the same experience at home."
With the heavy chain emphasis of the new benefit, Threet and her employees
were also concerned about the quality of the care they were receiving. "We
didn’t like going to the same place to have our eyes checked where we buy
laundry detergent."
By the time INS was spun-off in 2002, Threet says "VSP was the first plan we
knew we wanted to re-instate."
Both employees and benefit administrators at INS applauded the change back to
VSP. "Based on my experience with VSP, we’ve never had an issue with cost,
administration or employee satisfaction. The last thing I want my engineers
doing, is tracking down a claim issue instead of billing clients. That is how we
generate revenue. Any time the employee spends worrying about their benefits, is
valuable time away from their work. With VSP, I don’t have to worry about it."
"Based on my experience with VSP, we've never had an issue with cost,
administration or employee satisfaction."--INS Director of Compensation and
Benefits, Julie Threet
= Member Only
