New AOA president champions fight in Washington for access to essential eye care

Dr. Carlson and Kathleen Sebelius

WASHINGTON — Dori Carlson, OD, the new president of the American Optometric Association, met with U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius earlier this week to advocate for expanded access to eye and vision care for all Americans, according to an association press release.

Medicare, a new pediatric vision care benefit and other health care services, among other areas of the federal budget (e.g. defense spending), face automatic cuts of as much as $1.2 trillion if the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction cannot agree on a large enough plan that can pass Congress, according to the release.

“Our message is simple and straightforward,” Dr. Carlson said in the release. “Optometry is part of the solution to the challenges our country is facing right now. I’m making certain Washington, D.C., understands exactly who optometrists are, how advanced our education and training is and what we do every day to keep our patients healthy and active.”

In meetings with Ms. Sebelius; Alexa Posny, PhD, the assistant secretary of education and other officials, Dr. Carlson stressed the role of optometrists in communities across the country, particularly their role in delivering care to school-age children and seniors. She also pointed to the increasing national support for comprehensive eye exams to replace the broken system of screenings as the best way to help the millions of children struggling with undiagnosed and untreated vision problems and eye diseases, the release said.

Pro-optometry leaders in Congress, including Sen. Daniel Inouye, (D-Hawaii), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) joined Dr. Carlson in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to make comprehensive eye exams the foundation of federal children’s vision policy.