Regulatory/Legislative News

Prevent Blindness is committed to protecting the children’s vision benefits included in the Affordable Care Act as well as the critical services provided through Medicaid, the group announced in a press release.

Alaska’s HB 103 was signed into law by Gov. Bill Walker on July 26, granting the Alaska Board of Examiners in Optometry the authority to write regulations, eliminating the requirement for optometry to petition the Alaska State Legislature with advances in optometric education or technology.

Legislation recently passed in Connecticut specifies that an in-person eye examination is required for initial and renewed contact lens prescriptions.

Many physicians are frustrated by the requirement to document their quality of care through the new MACRA and MIPs quality of care rules from CMS. For most, it is frustration over just another unfunded mandate — a process that consumes time and energy to prove we are meeting standards that most of us have met forever.

In this blog from Epstein Becker & Green and its affiliate EBG Advisors, Robert Atlas and Yulian Shtern delve into the upcoming Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and how physicians can best maneuver their way through the process .

The FDA has sent a complete response letter to Ocular Therapeutix saying it cannot approve the Dextenza new drug application “in its present form,” according to a company press release.

WASHINGTON – Many legislators do not realize the importance of the doctor visit in prescribing contact lenses, Johnson & Johnson Vision’s Carol Alexander, OD, told students here at Optometry’s Meeting.

Health care in the United States will need continued innovation and a commitment to improvement from legislators and industry alike for a sustainable future, Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said at the OCTANe Ophthalmology Technology Summit.

The Trump administration has named Georgia health commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, to be the next CDC director.

WASHINGTON – Optometrists should always participate in new technology but, “at the same time, we’re looking at ways to make sure our patients are cared for properly and the doctor-patient relationship is maintained,” according to American Optometric Association former President Steve Loomis, OD.