Oct 14, 2018 3 min read

At least once every year or so, the same headline will pop up: Americans feel that the worst thing that could happen to them personally is to go blind. While this is one of the biggest fears, we still struggle to take the right actions to help provide the care people need. Which is why the important and courageous action of Sen. John Gordner and 32 of his colleagues in supporting Senate Bill 668, the Modernization of the Optometric Practice and Licensure Act, is so critical for more than 12 million Pennsylvanians. Despite intense pressure from the Pennsylvania Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pennsylvania Medical Society, 32 senators voted in favor of this important patient protection legislation. The bill now moves onto the House. The support of our local representatives is crucial to the passage of this important patient protection legislation.

SB 668 gives us all greater access to optometric care. It effectively removes significant barriers to care for the 85 percent of the population that receives its comprehensive vision care from a doctor of optometry. An amazing 99.9 percent of the population in the commonwealth has access to an optometrist, yet 20 percent of our counties have no in-county access to an ophthalmologist, which forces patients to travel great distances and miss additional time from work and family.

Despite broad access to optometric care, residents are restricted from getting a full range of optometric care and services, even though our optometrists have been expertly trained in those very disciplines. This access to a broader scope of available care is critical for Pennsylvanians since doctors of optometry not only identify and treat vision and eye health issues, but also detect the presence of serious diseases and conditions including diabetes, hypertension and even cancer.

This bill removes the unnecessary delays in access to FDA approved medications. It provides optometrists with the ability to treat conditions of the eye without repeatedly requiring costly consultations with primary care physicians and gives optometrists the authority to use all delivery methods for medications that they have been safely and effectively using since 1996.

Our senators should be commended for doing the right thing for patients in their districts and across the commonwealth. Please ask your local representative to support SB 668 and thereby assure every Pennsylvanian has access to affordable, high-quality vision care.

Joseph A. Ricci

Ricci is executive director of the Pennsylvania Optometric Association.