- The latest on AOA contact lens advocacy
- Warby Parker slapped with $1.5 million penalty for HIPAA breach
- How AOA advocacy keeps contact lens wearers fright free
- Contacts Lens Prescription Modernization Act introduced as next step in ending damaging robocalls
- Health system optometrists strike for recognition, fair labor practices
- How AOA is keeping contact lens wearers safe this spooky season
- Constant presence: Alliance builds reputation for patient safety advocacy
- Hubble Contacts concerns grow after woman loses eye, AOA asks where’s enforcement?
- AOA Today Show Response
- AOA recommends care standard for telemedicine use amid rapid change
- AOA issues consumer health alert for online vision tests
- AOA's 31 in 31 campaign
- Vision Direct website removes FCLCA claims after AOA and BBB challenge
- Goal should be mandatory protective eyewear in high school field hockey
- Mere commoditization
- AOA pushes Amazon to sufficiently address inappropriate contact lens sales
- Vision Direct UK to halt sales without required prescriptions after AOA complaints
- Alcon joins Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety
- Patients need guidance on risks of online vision apps
- AOA demands 1-800 Contacts change misleading message
- Telemedicine-Policy
- Breaking through the pandemic
- VA rescinds laser policy
- AOA rallies optometry and allies to fight FTC contact lens rule
- Company recalls colored contact lenses it was selling online without FDA clearance
- FTC Contact Lens Rule changes
- ftc flags vision apps misleading claims
- atlantic author retracts tweet
- Homeland Security agents bust counterfeit contact lens dealers
- 1800 online eye test
- FDA enforcement action disrupts vision test company
- AOA AFOS continue fight against VA experimental eye exam replacement program
- Amazon drops noncompliant contact lens sellers
- Can you hear me now?
- AOA rejects demand from Stanton Optical to retract article
- AOA urges Federal Trade Commission to investigate Visibly ExpressExam
- FTC finds 1-800 Contacts engaged in anticompetitive agreements
- Opternatives doctor locator draws questions
- FDA warning to Opternative
- Illegal contact lens retailers slapped with fines penalties
- FDA Warning to Opternative March 18
- Holding accountable errant eye care retailers
- Hubble update
- AOA continues the fight for patient safety
- Veterans Round Table
- Balancing patient health safety with technological progress
- AOAs eye health first stance lays bare convenience messaging
- AOA contributes to CDC vision initiative
- States and AOA persevere in fight against heightened opposition from Opternative 1800Contacts
- AOA scrutiny aims to hold device profiteers accountable for false claims
- AOA promotes patient safety protections
- AOA Congress urge VA to uphold promise
- Legislation targets prescription verification deceptive internet sales tactics
- GMA Investigates raises red flag on Opternative
- Preventable vision loss unacceptable
- AOA commends FTC action against 1-800 Contacts
- AOA files expansive FDA complaint against Opternative
- Opternative issued cease and desist order
- AOA officers and CDC officials make plans for more collaboration
- Alliance for Patient Safety
- VA Visit
- AOA leaves impression on White House Conference on Aging
- FTC Upheld
- USPSTF Release
- AOA complaint focuses FDA sights on Opternative
- AOA to Census Bureau Doctor the optimal word
- AOA Patient safety paramount in contact lens legislation
- AOA authorities target illegal contact sellers
- Legislators petition FTC on retailers unscrupulous tactics
- AOA Opternatives doc locator appears to falsely imply endorsement
- Online vision test receives failing grade from doctor of optometry
- AOA complaints lead to changes in 1 800 Contacts business practice
- AOA warns public about online eye exams
- AOA affiliates continue to challenge online eye exams
- For parents, pediatric benefit brings clarity and consistency
- Be on the lookout Illegal contact lenses
- AOA fights for patient safety in contact lens legislation
- Choice Act offers new opportunities to care for veterans
- AOA backs legislative effort to expand veterans access to eye care
- AOA president to IOM Comprehensive eye exams essential to prevention and public health
- AOA in national roundtable on the future of diabetes care
- AOA Efforts on Contact Lens Bills Guided By Patient Health Concerns
UPDATE: Help veterans access timely, quality care
December 11, 2015
VA makes it easier for veterans to access care through ‘Choice’ program.
Tag(s): Advocacy, Patient Protection
Revised eligibility requirements ensure veterans' access to care outside the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) system if necessary, offering doctors of optometry a greater opportunity to provide aid.
Known as the Veterans Choice Program, this VA initiative permits the agency to pay for veterans' care from participating non-VA providers should the veteran face barriers to timely, traditional VA care. And in a final rule handed down by the agency on Dec. 1, 2015, the VA made it even easier for veterans to qualify.
Previously, veterans only were eligible for the Choice Program if they were enrolled in the VA system by August 2014 or as combat veterans, experiencing unusual or excessive burden in accessing care, or facing a 40-mile or longer driving distance. However, under this new final rule, a veteran is eligible if he or she is enrolled in the VA health care system and meets one of the following criteria:
- Face a 30-day or longer wait period for an appointment at the veteran's local VA medical facility;
- Must drive more than 40 miles from the closest VA medical facility with a full-time primary care physician;
- Must travel by air, boat or ferry to nearest VA medical facility;
- Face an unusual or excessive burden in traveling to the nearest VA medical facility, e.g., geographic challenges, environmental factors, medical condition, or the nature or frequency of care; and,
- Lives in a state or territory without a full-service VA medical facility, such as Alaska, Hawaii or New Hampshire.
Charles Sikes, O.D., immediate past president of the North Carolina State Optometric Society, has advocated and participated in the program since its creation in the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. He continues to push for measures that make the program more accessible, but already sees it making a difference in veterans' lives.
"Their appreciation is very rewarding; to feel like you're providing such a far-reaching benefit to our veterans is tremendously fulfilling in itself," Dr. Sikes said.
How to deliver care to veterans
Eye care clinics staffed by VA doctors of optometry, including residents, are among the busiest primary care settings in the veteran's health care system. Last year alone, more than 1.2 million veterans received comprehensive eye exams and other essential care through VA doctors of optometry.
Going forward, the workload for VA doctors of optometry is only expected to rise. Serious eye trauma is the second most common injury among those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, with 16% of all wounded service members experiencing problems ranging from distorted vision to blindness.
The VA offers information for how non-VA doctors can get involved, and doctors can also check their eligibility.