#EyesontheHill2016
By Dr. Vicky Wong
For this year's CAC (Congressional Advocacy Conference) in DC, I was tasked to take over as POC from the big shoes of Dr. Kevin Johnson. Luckily, Drs. Kelechi Mezu, Lauren Wood and I made a great team as we coordinated our Maryland Delegation of Optometrists, Students, and (for the first time ever) Paraoptometrics for Hill Day. We hope those that participated now just how much their voice means for our MOA representation at a federal level!
This year, the House will revisit HR1688 and HR1312 which have gained momentum in bipartisan cosponsors for issues dealing with Optometrists and Optometric Residents within the National Health Service Corps and Veterans Affairs system. The DOC access act, HR3323, is the federal version of our Maryland Vision Insurance bill that passed earlier. To support the bill, an independent private study by Avalon also concluded that the DOC access act can be achieved without any extra expenditures, making it a budget neutral issue. Forty states have already enacted legislation addressing these and other plan abuses but are unable to federally enforce them. This bill will put Doctors and Dentists back in charge of patient care instead of backing down from insurance companies and their cram down methods.
Senate bill S2777 is the Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act and it was also presented to the Senator meetings even though it was only introduced the week prior. With federal mandates and regulations, our profession will be able to crack down on unscrupulous internet based contact lens sellers.
We got so much great work done, including our first positive meeting with Representative Dr. Harris! It has helped so much having multiple constituents being present for our meetings. These legislative aides and health policy advisers want to know who is speaking up! We have established follow up schedules for each of our meetings thanks to everyone's participation and thank you notes at the debriefing.