Advocacy News

The state’s House Committee on Health and Human Resources advanced a bill which allows optometrists to perform surgical procedures taught at a single accredited optometry school, without clarifying standards of education or training.

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.

After months of Academy advocacy, Medicare administrative contractor WPS has released a finalized coverage policy for cataract surgery that abandons a proposed indication that a patient has a best corrected vision of 20/50 or worse.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a rule to reform prior authorization use in Medicare Advantage plans last week, advancing one of the Academy’s top advocacy priorities. Here is our analysis on how the rule will affect your practices.

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.  

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. 

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.

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

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.