- DOC Access Act reintroduced amid growing Capitol Hill vigor for VBM reform
- U.S. House, Senate approve VA OD physician-level recognition legislation
- Citing array of concerns and complaints, Congress ramps up scrutiny of vision benefit manager industry
- AOA-PAC Election Report: Optometry Has Outsized Impact on 2024 Elections
- How the AOA and affiliates are fighting for reimbursement and coverage fairness
- Are you ready for the Eyeglass Rule of 2024?
- NIH, NEI consolidation plan ‘jeopardizes’ vision research, draws AOA opposition
- Bill seeks better fix to Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cuts
- How Chevron ruling could impact optometry
- Takeaways from CMS’ proposed 2025 Physician Fee Schedule
- FTC issues 10-year Eyeglass Rule update as AOA renews demand for crackdown on medical device scammers
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- 'All the advocacy firepower’ called up at AOA on Capitol Hill
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- CMS takes aim at Medicare Advantage plans misrepresenting vision benefits
- Fighting for veterans, fighting for optometry
- AOA: No letting up on Eyeglass Rule advocacy
- AOA and AFOS: ‘Cut through the noise’ and empower licensed doctors of optometry to provide greater access to care to veterans
- A force to reckon with
- U.S. House investigative committee calls for scrutiny of vision plans
- Retail optical lobbying group name change allays AOA, affiliate concerns
- Doctors of optometry challenge reasoning behind proposed Eyeglass Rule changes at FTC workshop
- Contact lens safety legislation proposes banning robocalls
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- Hatch Act permits issue advocacy by doctors of optometry
- AOA makes robust rebuttal to FTC over proposed changes to Eyeglass Rule
- DOC Access Act introduced amid growing patient calls for Congress to act
- bill seeks advancement for VA doctors of optometry
- Are you adhering to the Contact Lens Rule
- AOA decries misleading Medicare Advantage advertising
- Gaining access A win for veterans and doctors of optometry
- Congress heeds AOA’s call to stop Medicare pay cuts, but lawmakers’ plan falls short
- Proactive advocacy gets early eyeglass rule gains, notice of potential new burden
- AOA PAC plays outsized role in 2022 midterm elections
- Veterans notch win as VA rescinds restrictive language governing community ODs
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- Federal student loan forgiveness: What to know
- Medicare Pay Cuts 2022
- 2022 Capitol Hill Recap
- AOA and South Carolina doctors expose and defeat retail lobby group’s influence scheme
- Medicare Pay Cuts March 2022
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- Hubble Contacts slapped with 3.5 million penalties restrictions and supervision
- Medicare pay cuts, once delayed, looming without Congressional action
- Bipartisan AOA-backed bill targeting abusive discount plans gets boost from policy-expert report delivered to Congress
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- U.S. House, consumer groups mull federal action against DTC contact lens sales schemes
- Medicare Cuts Averted
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- Optometry’s advocates going FAR beyond the call
- Lawmakers host AOA, patient and consumer advocates for VBM abuse briefing as Congress expands probes
- AOA-AFOS make case to Department of Veterans Affairs for access-boosting national practice standards
- Medicare expansion: The long road to here and now
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- Congress sets deadline to ink Medicare vision expansion language
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- Medicare expansion
- Congress urges administration to fully implement provider nondiscrimination law
- Department of Veterans Affairs Optometry Service and doctors of optometry
- Medicare Vision Expansion
- AOA-backed DOC Access Act reintroduced to combat anti-competitive vision plans
- 2021 Virtual AOA on Capitol Hill Wrap-up
- Contact lens prescription verification failings targeted by new legislation
- Advocacy Bootcamp
- Medicare Telehealth Expansion
- 2 percent Medicare sequester delayed
- Doctors of optometry obtain 2.1 billion in federal relief
- CL rule takes effect
- Medicare Sequester
- Expanded COVID-19 vaccinator workforce includes doctors and students of optometry
- NBEO decisions provoke AOA-AOSA response
- Congress’ COVID-19 relief package HHS funds-ERC extension
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- 2021 Virtual AOA on Capitol Hill
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- Congress President Biden asked to activate optometry for COVID-19 vaccination response
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- AOA takes on anti-optometry lobbying group’s deceptions
- Contact Lens Rule implications key tax and Medicare pay fixes among AOA wins
- AOA and AOSA make appeal to extend suspension of student loan payments
- AOA-backed DOC Access Act gains U.S. Senate companion
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- 1-800 Contacts notifies patients not to wear AquaSoft lenses due to lens defect
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- Proposed payment model would have put burden solely on shoulders of doctors of optometry
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- How and why you should get involved in advocacy
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- reauthorization of higher education act
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- CMS to ease meaningful use reporting periods
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- How to engage with local elected officials
- Medicare payments increase by 75 percent in 10 years
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- Doctors of optometry step up as pandemic sets in
- Medicare pay cuts loom without Congress action
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Vision plan abuses top of mind? Register for AOA’s town hall on reimbursement, coverage fairness advocacy
Vision plan abuses top of mind? Register for AOA’s town hall on reimbursement, coverage fairness advocacy
December 21, 2023
Thursday, Jan. 4, a profession-wide virtual gathering is called for doctors to speak out, assess 2023 legislative and regulatory gains, and help build new support for policy change.
Tag(s): Advocacy, Federal Advocacy
A profession-wide, virtual town hall focused on the challenges that optometry practices face from anti-doctor, anti-patient strategies used by vision plans will be hosted by AOA’s Board of Trustees on Jan. 4, 2024. Thousands of doctors, both AOA members and nonmembers alike, are expected to join the interactive session as AOA leaders plan to:
- Seek doctor comments, concerns, complaints and questions related to active plan abuses.
- Review the profession’s 2023 state and national advocacy efforts.
- Detail advocacy initiatives planned for 2024.
“The fight for reimbursement and coverage fairness for optometry is and will continue to be our highest advocacy priority,” says Ronald L. Benner, O.D., AOA president. “With the AOA and our affiliates leading the charge for expanded enforcement and tough new laws to stop plan abuses, it’s essential for us to continue gathering reports from impacted doctors, share advocacy updates and, together, build support for policy change.”
What: AOA Profession-Wide Townhall on Reimbursement and Coverage Fairness
When: 9 p.m. ET, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024
Where: Zoom
Register now to participate in this town hall meeting. Doctors are encouraged to circulate this information among colleagues; the session is open to all optometrists.
4 steps to take before attending the AOA town hall
- Submit a question to the AOA board at president@aoa.org. All questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the town hall discussion, but time is limited. Every question, concern, comment or complaint submitted will receive a direct reply via email from Dr. Benner or an AOA board member.
- Anti-trust considerations for this conversation. Pursuant to Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, professional associations like the AOA are strictly prohibited from coordinating the contracting decisions of their members. The purpose of this town hall is to collect information from practicing doctors to assist the AOA in its efforts to address these issues through constitutionally protected legislative and regulatory advocacy.
- Help build support for AOA-backed legislation. Visit the AOA’s Action Center, or text “DOC” to 855.465.5124, to urge your U.S. senators and House members to support the Dental and Optometric Care (DOC) Access Act, H.R. 1385/S. 1424. Vision plans are the bill’s only opponents and lobby Congress every day to defeat it. Read more about the DOC Access Act in the AOA’s fact sheet, or watch a short video from Patients Rising! about this important legislation.
- Access the AOA’s advocacy reading list for background. Learn more about the vision plan advocacy that the AOA and affiliates have accomplished throughout the past year, and access the reports that AOA will be referencing, including the AOA Health and Vision Plan Action Report, a day-to-day tally of member doctor complains and the AOA’s actions; the AOA Health Policy Institute Report on stagnation in vision plan fee schedules; and the Avalon Health Economics Report on how plan mandates result in higher costs, less convenience and worse health outcomes.
Continue reading AOA’s advocacy updates, including:
- U.S. House investigative committee calls for scrutiny of vision plans
- New Texas law halts vision plans’ anti-competitive, monopolistic behaviors
- Optometry’s wins over abusive vision plans stacking up
- DOC Access Act gains Senate companion
- Texas’ vision plan law takes effect, court challenge continues
- Doctors of optometry in Texas and Nevada build bulwark against vision plan abuses
- CMS takes aim at Medicare Advantage plans misrepresenting vision benefits
- AOA, state affiliate tracking California lawsuit alleging VSP monopolistic practices
- Affiliates, AOA share forward-thinking strategies for optometry’s advocates
- AOA and state affiliates rally to decry and defeat discriminatory ‘not-a-doctor’ bills
Experiencing difficulties with a health or vision plan? Report these challenges to the AOA Third Party Center at stopplanabuses@aoa.org.