Advocacy News

After hearing from members that they continue to face challenges from the Change Healthcare cyber-attack, the Academy wrote to UnitedHealth Group again this week urging ongoing and expanded support for physician practices.

The Academy’s clinical data registry again helped our profession deliver quality care and avoid payment penalties.

Advocacy efforts in Minnesota and Missouri to protect patient safety were successful at blocking optometric scope of practice expansion bills from becoming law. These states represent ophthalmology's seventh and eighth wins for patient safety this year.

For the third time in five years, the Vermont Ophthalmological Society, with support from the Academy, defeated a bill that would have granted surgical authority to optometrists. This is the sixth time this year that ophthalmology has successfully defended patient safety and maintained high quality standards for surgical eye care.

Practices facing difficulties meeting MIPS program requirements due to circumstances outside of their control, such as the Change Healthcare cyberattack, can now apply for a hardship exception for 2024.

The Academy supports the Early Detection of Vision Impairments for Children (EDVI) Act of 2024, a bipartisan initiative that would create the first federally funded program to address children’s vision and eye health. Urge your representative to support this critical legislation today.

The Academy is amplifying efforts to promote innovative treatments for amblyopia by urging insurers to cover the use of digital binocular therapy devices.

This session explored potential promises and pitfalls of AI and its impact on ophthalmology.

This session highlighted efforts to address disparities in eye care delivery and ophthalmology’s leading role in identifying novel solutions to these challenges.

This session described how the ophthalmic community is advocating in response to overly restrictive coverage policies and advocating for patient access to sight-saving care.