Advocacy News

Granite State ophthalmologists stayed engaged to successfully defend patient safety from relentless efforts to pass an aggressive bill that would have made New Hampshire the first New England state authorizing optometrists to perform eye surgery, making it the ninth state this year to deliver a win for safe eye surgery.

Responding to the Senate Finance committee’s ideas for reforming how physicians are paid by Medicare, the Academy offered detailed solutions that would both improve physician payment and protect patient access to specialty care medicine.

Urge your legislators to cosponsor and pass the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act today.

Blurb: Regional Medicare contractor WPS released a new draft policy for cataract procedure alongside last week’s proposals for MIGS coverage. The Academy is working with ASCRS to ensure that ophthalmologists’ perspective is reflected in the final policy.

OPHTHPAC sees success in two state primaries with two OPHTHPAC®-supported physicians will advance to the general election in November.

Regional Medicare administrators CGS, NGS, Noridian, Palmetto, and WPS today proposed new coverage policies for medical Botox injections, including injections for treatment of blepharospasm, strabismus, and hemifacial spasm. We are deeply concerned about the proposal to put impractical dosing guidelines on treating blepharospasm with Botox. The Academy is working with ASOPRS and NANOS to ensure patient access to medically necessary treatments.

Regional Medicare administrators CGS, NGS, Noridian, Palmetto, and WPS today proposed new MIGS coverage policies, which build upon last year’s intense advocacy campaign for patient access The Academy is working with AGS, ASCRS, and OOSS to ensure that Ophthalmology’s perspective is reflected in the final policies.

After hearing from members that they continue to face challenges from the Change Healthcare cyber-attack, the Academy wrote to UnitedHealth Group again this week urging ongoing and expanded support for physician practices.

The Academy’s clinical data registry again helped our profession deliver quality care and avoid payment penalties.

Advocacy efforts in Minnesota and Missouri to protect patient safety were successful at blocking optometric scope of practice expansion bills from becoming law. These states represent ophthalmology's seventh and eighth wins for patient safety this year.