Academies see eye to eye, brief Congress on children's vision care legislation

WASHINGTON — Several bills proposing funding for children's vision care have failed to make their way through Congress in recent years, but a new bill, HR-507, carries more hope of passing, according to vision care advocates. The bill takes a new approach to providing follow-up care for children aged 9 years and younger, said pediatric ophthalmologist Jean E. Ramsey, MD.

Jean E. Ramsey, MD, addresses attendees at a Congressional Vision Caucus briefing Monday.

Image: Cruz D, OSN

Dr. Ramsey and others spoke during a Congressional Vision Caucus briefing at the Rayburn House Office Building here on Monday. She explained that ophthalmologists and optometrists generally have not seen "eye to eye" when it comes to vision care legislation for children, but this bill was born from a collaborative effort by the two groups.

"It is nice to see Republicans and Democrats working together, but it is really nice to be in this room and see optometrists and ophthalmologists working together," said U.S. Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Optometric Association have been joined in the effort by Prevent Blindness America, the Vision Council of America and the Congressional Vision Caucus.

"This bill is supported by all the major eye care professional organizations, and that is no small feat. The planets are aligned," Dr. Ramsey said. "This is the time to vote for this bill. The people in the vision field who are here today realize that our goal is for children to be able to see, have normal vision and not end up [spending] the rest of their lives with severe vision loss or profound vision loss in one or both eyes, especially for something that could have been treated."

Of the 20% of children who have a learning disability, 70% have vision problems, according to Andrea P. Thau, OD, FAAO, FCOVD.

"Nearly 4 million children nationwide have impaired vision," she said. "There are so many children now being labeled as having learning problems, and the vast majority of them have never had their eyes checked."

Historically, the optometric community has pushed for legislation mandating comprehensive eye exams for all children, while the ophthalmic community supported legislation that mandated screening with appropriate follow-up for children with vision problems. The new legislation would provide states with grants to fund eye exams by an eye care professional — optometrist or ophthalmologist — for children identified as needing such services, with priority given to children under 9 years of age, Dr. Ramsey said.

"Children can be identified as needing follow-up care either through a vision screening or a comprehensive eye examination. We are not going down that route. It is a complicated route, and we are going to leave that for the states to decide," Dr. Ramsey said. "Once the child has been identified and the child does not have insurance and no way to pay for this, that is where these grant funds will kick in, so many states now are stepping up."

U.S. Rep. Gene Green, co-chairman of the Congressional Vision Caucus, said, "Early detection is important, but unless we can follow up [with funding] it does not really work. That is why this is so important. This is one I think we can pass [through] this Congress with the support."