Davis Vision works differently from every other major carrier, and if your lens is on their list you can walk out having paid nothing at all — no allowance, no balance, fitting included.
That is a genuinely better deal than VSP or EyeMed offer. It also comes with a limitation buried in three words, and it is worth understanding both halves before you decide.
The Contact Lens Collection: covered in full
Davis maintains a proprietary list called the Contact Lens Collection. Lenses on it are covered in full — not against an allowance, in full.
And unusually, the professional services come with them: “Your contact lens evaluation and fittings are included at no additional charge when Collection contacts are prescribed.”
Compare that to VSP, where the fitting is deducted from your $150 allowance, and EyeMed, where it is a separate $40 benefit. On a Collection lens, Davis charges you for neither.
The Collection spans real, mainstream brands rather than obscure house lenses:
- Planned replacement — Biofinity, Frequency Aspheric
- Disposable — ACUVUE 2, ACUVUE OASYS, Biomedics 55 Premiere, ClearSight 1-Day
- Specialty — ACUVUE OASYS for Astigmatism, ACUVUE OASYS for Presbyopia
Biofinity and Acuvue Oasys are two of the most commonly prescribed lenses in the country. This is not a bargain bin.
The catch: “up to a 6 month supply”
Here is the part to read carefully.
Collection coverage provides two boxes or multi-packs for planned replacement lenses, four for disposables — and Davis describes this as “up to a 6 month supply, depending upon the provider-recommended wearing schedule.”
Covered in full, then, means half a year covered in full. The second half of the year is yours.
That has a knock-on effect people miss. Nearly every manufacturer rebate requires you to buy an annual supply in one purchase. A six-month Collection benefit does not qualify. So the Davis structure quietly trades your rebate eligibility for your allowance.
Whether that is a good trade depends on the lens. On a rebate worth $100–$150 against six months of lenses worth $300, the Collection still wins comfortably. On a lens with a large rebate and a modest price, it is closer than it looks. Run it both ways.
If your lens is not in the Collection
You fall back to a conventional structure:
- $125 allowance toward the cost of the lenses
- 15% off the balance after the allowance is applied
Note the allowance is $125, not the $150 that VSP and EyeMed commonly offer. Off-Collection, Davis is slightly below the market.
The 15% is better than nothing — EyeMed gives disposable wearers no discount at all on the balance — but there is a specific exclusion worth knowing: the discount does not apply at Walmart or Sam’s Club. If you were planning to combine a Davis allowance with Walmart’s pricing, the percentage comes off the table.
How to actually use this
- Ask which Collection lenses suit your eyes before anything else. Not “what do you recommend” — specifically, “is there a Collection lens that works for me?” If Biofinity or Acuvue Oasys is clinically right for you, that is six months at zero cost including the fitting.
- Do not accept a Collection lens that is wrong for your eyes to chase the benefit. A lens that does not fit or breathe well enough is a poor trade for a few hundred dollars. That is a clinical decision and it belongs to your doctor.
- Compare the two routes on paper. Collection for six months at $0, versus $125 plus 15% off an annual supply plus a rebate. Our price index has the numbers for the second half of that sum.
- Ask about medically necessary coverage separately. Davis publishes clear numeric thresholds — 3.00 dioptres of difference between your eyes, a prescription past ±8.00 — and that is a different and better benefit than either route above.
Plan terms vary by employer group and the figures above come from published Davis Vision plan materials; your own plan may differ, and the Collection list changes over time. Confirm with your certificate of coverage or your provider before deciding. Reviewed by Dr. Teresita Bollar, OD.
