Advocacy News

The chances of a Medicare fix in the funding bill are dimming, but the Academy and physicians in Congress will continue to push for an urgent solution.

The House of Representatives plans to vote on legislation that would fund the government for the rest of 2025 but ignores the Medicare cuts that took effect on Jan. 1.

The Academy’s Health Policy Committee consulted with Academy staff on many of the top advocacy issues arising from the January 2025 Federal Secretariat meeting.

Academy leaders have identified physician payment reform, reducing practice burdens, Medicare Advantage and Quality Performance Program issues, as well as military veterans’ eye care as some of our top federal advocacy priorities for 2025.

Ophthalmologists must actively engage with Congress to educate lawmakers on critical health care issues, emphasized Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., during OPHTHPAC®’s first Speaker Series event of the year, on Jan. 27.

A bipartisan group of our congressional champions has introduced new legislation to reverse the 2025 Medicare pay cuts and add 2% update to the conversion factor for the rest of the year. Help us build support for this much needed update.

Mary Lawrence, MD, was invited by newly elected Rep. Kelly Morrison, MD, D-Minn., to swearing-in day of the 119th Congress. She shares her experience of seeing first-hand how your OPHTHPAC investments build relationships with lawmakers and other medical societies.

Congress has recessed and left Washington, D.C., for the year without addressing the impending cuts to Medicare payment, set to take effect Jan. 1, 2025, putting patient’s access to sight-saving care at risk.

The election results are in, and ophthalmology strengthened its voice on Capitol Hill in the next Congress. Help your profession prepare for the new Congress.

The “gold card” program would exempt certain practices from prior authorization requirements.