Advocacy News

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.

Despite numerous communications, presentations, and meetings with the Utah Ophthalmology Society, the state’s Office of Professional Licensure Review has recommended optometric scope expansion to perform YAG and SLT laser surgery.

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

In recognition of our ophthalmology coalition’s concerns, five Medicare administrative contractors have canceled problematic glaucoma surgery coverage policies that were scheduled to begin Jan. 29.

We joined a registry coalition in calling for changes to proposed policies on health care information sharing by clinicians in a letter submitted this week.

Hundreds of your colleagues have already told legislators to include payment relief in any bill that addresses the Jan. 19 government funding deadline. Add your voice and help protect patient access to care.

The state legislature has revived a bill that would expand optometric surgery. A committee hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9.

In the first step in a renewed effort to end cataract prior authorization requirements for Medicare Advantage patients in Florida, the Academy and our coalition partners demanded data from Aetna to back up its rationale for maintaining the policy in a single state. Florida members: Join us by sharing your stories with the Academy.

In a meeting with five Medicare administrative contractors on Wednesday, the Academy and our ophthalmology coalition highlighted inconsistencies in the local coverage determination review process and called for the policies to be significantly revised or scrapped entirely before the policies take effect on Jan. 29.