Advocacy News

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has signed House Bill 1099, legislature that will expand optometry’s scope of practice to include laser and scalpel surgery.

The Academy worked closely with the Utah Ophthalmology Society to inform lawmakers of the risks associated with optometrists performing laser eye surgery without proper medical education and clinical training.

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.

Companion legislation introduced in the state’s House and Senate would allow optometrists to perform a variety of surgeries and grant the Kansas State Board of Examiners in Optometry power to add more procedures in the future.

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The Utah legislature is seeking to expand optometric scope to include two laser surgeries, YAG capsulotomy and selective laser trabeculoplasty, in a bill introduced in the state Senate on Feb. 7.

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.

State legislatures are already moving to consider optometric scope of practice expansion in three states, including two where ophthalmology successfully defended patient safety last year.

The state’s House Committee on Health and Human Resources advanced a bill which allows optometrists to perform surgical procedures taught at a single accredited optometry school, without clarifying standards of education or training.

Despite successfully defending patient safety in these two states last year, lawmakers have introduced bills to allow optometrists to perform laser and scalpel surgery.