ODs: Contact Congress in Support of AOA-backed Medicaid, NHSC Improvement Bills

AOA doctor and student advocates helped secure record levels of support for optometry-specific legislation in the last Congress. Thanks to this effort, the National Health Service Corps Improvement Act (H.R. 920) and the Optometric Equity in Medicaid Act (H.R. 855) were introduced into the new 113th Congress with broad bipartisan support.

Sponsored by Reps. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), the AOA-backed National Health Service Corps Improvement Act aims to bring doctors of optometry into more underserved urban and rural communities by ending the misguided exclusion of optometrists from the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) student loan repayment and scholarship programs.

AOA Endorses The Vision Council’s “Think About Your Eyes” National Campaign

The American Optometric Association (AOA) is endorsing “Think About Your Eyes,” a national initiative focused on increasing public awareness of the importance of overall vision health. Think About Your Eyes, L.L.C., a non-profit organization under The Vision Council, announced that it is launching the campaign in the second half of 2013. The AOA will be raising awareness among its membership about this important public health campaign before and during the launch.