Ensuring our nation’s veterans have access to the full range of eye care they need, when and where they need it, has long been a mission for optometry’s advocates. Now, a pair of Veterans Health Administration directives affecting optometry could have far-reaching consequences beyond the nation’s largest integrated health care network.

Access the AOA’s 2022 elections map to see how optometry’s candidates fared and where advocates can get involved to ensure the profession’s priorities remain heard.

Mississippi’s challenge of language recently inserted into Department of Veterans Affairs guidelines barring community doctors of optometry from providing so-called “invasive” eye procedures boosts veteran access to needed care.

An AOA-backed measure before Congress would temporarily increase Medicare physician fee schedule rates to offset some of the statutory cuts now threatening doctors’ pay.

Optometry’s advocates continue to emphasize that eligibility for debt relief programs should not exclude optometry and greater options should be available for debt forgiveness programs.

The second of two Medicare sequester cuts took effect July 1 with up to 2.75% of Medicare physicians’ pay affected in 2022. Even more significant cuts are scheduled in 2023 without Congressional action.

AOA-led effort builds Congressional support for the DOC Access Act, delivering in-person briefings for members of Congress and strong backing from the American Dental Association and national pro-patient groups.

Already the subject of one complaint to the IRS, the National Association of Optometrists and Opticians (NAOO), a lobbying “front” for large optical retailers, was called out to legislators for deceptive tactics and seeking a self-serving overhaul of patient health and safety standards. The AOA follows up on winning activism of South Carolina doctors with [...]

The first of two Medicare sequester cuts loom on the horizon for doctors’ pay with additional cuts anticipated later this year. How AOA and others are working to avert an impending fiscal cliff.

In a March 2 letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the AOA urged more action to support patient access to eye health and vision care under Medicare Advantage plans.