Advocacy News

Won’t be able to join your colleagues at Mid-Year Forum 2024 in Washington, D.C.? You can still play a powerful role on Congressional Advocacy Day, even if you can’t attend in person.

In a letter to Secretary Denis McDonough, the Academy and 29 other physician groups called out inconsistencies in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ development of national standards of practice and urged more transparency and physician involvement in the process.

Your support helps OPHTHPAC work for physician-friendly candidates to replace them.

Military veterans’ eye care, physician payment reform, reducing practice burdens, ensuring patients’ timely access to needed treatments, and increasing member engagement will drive the Academy’s 2024 advocacy efforts on behalf of ophthalmology patients and practices.

Recent letters from members of Congress and physician groups to Department of Veterans Affairs health officials highlight growing concerns that a potential new national standard of practice could allow VA-employed optometrists to perform laser eye surgery — significantly lowering the quality of surgical eye care in VA health facilities.

Veterans’ and military groups representing more than 2.5 million veterans, active duty and retired military personnel submitted statements to a key congressional subcommittee opposing the VA’s development of national standards of practice for optometry.

In a statement to a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee the organization reiterated its longstanding support for eye surgery by surgeons and found veterans prefer physician-led health care teams when accessing care in VA facilities.

The American Optometric Association presented several misleading claims Tuesday during a hearing in the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health to examine the Department of Veterans Affairs’ plans to establish national standards of practice for health care professions in VA health facilities. We set the record straight.

Sidney Gicheru, MD, medical director at Laser Care Eye Center in Dallas, was one of the top three fundraisers for the Academy’s special Protect Veterans’ Eyesight initiative this year. He recruited more than 85 of his friends and colleagues to donate to help defend the highest quality surgical eye care that our veterans deserve. We asked what motivated him.

Academy CEO Stephen McLeod, MD’s, testimony before the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health has helped put a spotlight on the Department of Veterans Affairs development of national standards or practice for optometry.