AOA strengthens membership to advocate for optometry
DENVER – While dealing with the challenges of the pandemic, the profession of optometry also enjoyed successes on the political front, according to outgoing American Optometric Association President William T. Reynolds, OD, here at Optometry’s Meeting.
The association itself dealt with a $6 million deficit – with decreased industry funding, income from Optometry’s Meeting and political action committee (PAC) donations – thereby reducing the group’s ability to advocate for the profession, Reynolds said. Affiliates faced losses at home and in their practices.
“In the middle of all of this we dealt with social, political and religious division and unrest,” he said. “Even in optometry we had to face the fact that we were not as diverse and inclusive as we needed to be.
“But as crazy as that sounds, when we look back, there were positives that came out of this past year,” he continued.
The AOA worked to ensure optometrists could receive COVID-19 relief money, Reynolds said.
“We were able to get HHS to declare us as essential health care providers,” he said. “The VA removed the ban on ODs doing laser procedures. We gained the right to administer vaccinations. We were able to get Anthem to stop automatically down coding optometric services. The proposed enhanced Medicare bill has vision benefits embedded in the medical plan where they belong.”
Now PAC donations are back up, and “even though AOA on Capitol Hill was virtual, we had more members participate than ever in the past,” he added.
Many states also gained scope of practice advancements during the pandemic, he said, “in Texas, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma; a very significant win in Massachusetts, giving every state the ability to treat glaucoma. New York has a bill sitting on the governor’s desk.
“Arkansas prevailed with a legal battle to get Nd:YAG and selective laser trabeculoplasty privileges,” he continued. “Mississippi got Nd:YAG. Wyoming got an exclusionary bill giving them laser and surgical privileges. Other states had victories getting vaccination authority, access legislation and protection legislation.”
However, the FTC continues to attack the profession, he said, vision plans continue to undervalue optometric services, and online retailers and telehealth providers continue to prey on patients.
“We have to make membership our top priority so we can be strong enough to advocate for the profession,” Reynolds said. “There are a lot of organizations in optometry and health care in general that do very important work. We are the only one that advocates for our doctors and the patients they serve.”