FTC proposes confirmation requirement for eyeglass prescription release
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The Federal Trade Commission has proposed updating its Ophthalmic Practices Rules to require optometrists and ophthalmologists to retain written confirmation from patients indicating they were given their eyeglass prescription.
The FTC said in a press release that it considered more than 800 public comments before proposing this update to the Eyeglass Rule. A notice will be published in the Federal Register in early January 2023, and consumers can submit comments for 60 days, after which the commission will decide whether to issue a final rule.
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“This rule is made to protect consumer choice by empowering them to decide where they fill their eyeglass prescriptions, yet too many prescribers are failing to give patients their prescriptions automatically,” Samuel Levine, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the release. “To remedy that and enforce the law we are proposing that prescribers now get a signed confirmation when they release prescriptions to their patients.”
The FTC issued a similar rule in 2020 to impose the same requirements on contact lens prescriptions.
The commission said in the release that the Eyeglass Rule, issued in 1978, “helps facilitate consumer choice and promote competition in the eyeglass market.”
The rule prohibits prescribers from requiring that patients buy eyeglasses before providing a copy of their prescription, placing a liability waiver on it, or requiring patients to sign a waiver or pay for the prescription, according to the FTC. Providers also cannot make an eye exam contingent upon purchase of ophthalmic goods.
The FTC said it has sent warning letters to prescribers in response to consumer complaints.
The commission said it is seeking comment on proposed measures that would:
- Require prescribers to request that each patient sign an acknowledgment confirming they have received their eyeglass prescription and to retain such confirmation for 3 years;
- Allow prescribers, with a patient’s verifiable affirmative consent, to provide the patient with a digital copy of a prescription in lieu of a paper copy;
- Clarify that a patient’s proof of insurance coverage will be deemed to be a payment for the purpose of determining when a prescription must be provided; and
- Change the term “eye examination” to “refractive eye examination” throughout the rule.
A preliminary regulatory analysis showed increased costs resulting from the confirmation retention requirement; however, it is “relatively small in the context of the total market for eyeglasses and refractive examination,” the FTC said. Another preliminary finding indicated “substantial” benefits of increasing the number of patients who obtain their prescription.
The American Optometric Association provided Healio a letter sent to members Dec. 9 regarding the FTC’s announcement.
“...we too often see — and have to work to defeat — proposals in Washington, D.C., to impose costly new burdens that threaten practices and quality care,” AOA President Robert C. Layman, OD, and AOA President-Elect Ronald L. Benner, OD, said in the letter. “Already the AOA’s concerns — we have been active on this for months — about harmful new mandates involving pupillary distance, prescription verification and duplicative paperwork have been accepted. These important wins must now be held. At the same time, we immediately see that the agency needs to hear more from our profession about our compliance with prescription release requirements.”
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