Reverses Mandate for Comprehensive Eye Exams for Children

WASHINGTON, DC – In a major legislative victory for children’s eye care, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley recently signed into law a vision screening requirement for children entering kindergarten. 

The effort was spearheaded by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) and the North Carolina Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons (NCSEPS).
 
This new law recommends a comprehensive follow-up exam for those who fail the vision screening and provides $500,000 in state funds to cover the expenses for children who are unable to afford the exams. 

The governor’s signature culminates a year of action by a broad-based citizen coalition to repeal a 2005 mandate requiring comprehensive eye examinations for children entering kindergarten.

"This law is a victory for the children and parents of North Carolina because it establishes a strong vision screening program for those kids entering kindergarten," said Jean Ramsey, MD, Academy state affairs regional secretariat member. "With good screening, vision problems can be identified early and treated before they have a detrimental impact on a child’s education experience. This bill allows us to reach a much larger number of kids and target health care services and monies to those who need it."

Last year, in a last-minute move, N.C. House Speaker, Republican Jim Black, an optometrist, inserted a provision in the state budget bill mandating comprehensive eye exams for children entering kindergarten. When this action came to light, public sentiment opposed the mandate, which was publicly perceived as self-serving for optometry.

Eighty-seven school boards, the N.C. School Boards Association, and the parent of a student affected by the new ruling filed suit, calling the law "an unconstitutional financial barrier to a free public education." 

Pointing to the cost – as much as $120 per exam – and arguing that the exams were unnecessary, they were successful in getting an injunction against implementation until July 1, 2007. This delay gave the General Assembly time to repeal the law and pass a new vision screening bill. With the new vision screening law, North Carolina is among 34 other states and the District of Columbia in requiring children to have vision screenings.

Complementing the Academy’s ongoing state effort is a bill recently introduced by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. The "Vision Care for Kids Act of 2006" (S. 3685), would award state grants for follow-up treatment and services to children who have been previously identified through a vision screening or eye examination as having a problem.

The federal bill is a good partnership for states like North Carolina, said Catherine G. Cohen, Academy vice president for governmental affairs.

The Academy was joined by AAPOS, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Optometric Association and the Vision Council of America in securing this compromise bill, which closely resembles the Academy-backed House bill, H.R. 2328, previously introduced by Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., earlier in this congressional session.

Both the House and Senate bills are intended to complement efforts in the states and the Academy's Vision Screening: A Visionary Benefit for Children Campaign, which encourages and promotes routine vision screenings for children by physicians and professionally trained screeners.

"Public health care dollars are being squeezed at every level, so we are working to ensure the most effective vision care in the most fiscally responsible way," said Dr. Ramsey. "Vision screenings provide broad access because they can be administered by a variety of professionals, such as pediatricians, lay screeners and others, and ensure that more health care money can be directed to those who are identified as really needing it."