Advocacy News

A new round of floor speeches highlighted the bipartisan agreement among members of the House of Representatives that there is urgent need for Medicare payment relief.

Our Congressional champions urged their colleagues to provide short-term relief and long-term stability for the system. Join their call by using our advocacy tool to contact your members of Congress.

The rule makes important changes to the prior authorization process that align with the Academy’s priorities of reducing administrative burdens on practices and allowing patients more timely access to the care they need. 

Despite successfully defending patient safety in these two states last year, lawmakers have introduced bills to allow optometrists to perform laser and scalpel surgery.

The Academy and an ophthalmology coalition met with Aetna leaders to discuss the payer’s decision to maintain its Medicare Advantage prior authorization requirement for all cataract procedures in Florida, after recently discontinuing the same program in Georgia.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced a new project to aimed at identifying pathways to transplant whole human eyes to restore vision for the blind and visually impaired. Multiple awards will be given.  

The Vermont legislature introduced a bill to expand optometry to include laser and incisional surgery and therapeutic injections.

We urged changes to the proposed cataract cost measure specifications, including a call to risk adjust for social determinants of health.

A bill authorizing optometrists to perform surgical procedures cleared the California State Legislature's Assembly Business and Professions Committee in an 11-7 vote Tuesday.

Recent letters from members of Congress and physician groups to Department of Veterans Affairs health officials highlight growing concerns that a potential new national standard of practice could allow VA-employed optometrists to perform laser eye surgery — significantly lowering the quality of surgical eye care in VA health facilities.