Volume 9, Issue 10│March 14, 2025 | | | |
Legislative Outreach
Legislative Director, Janice McMahon, OD
The six month mark for my time in this legislative role at the IOA occurs this Spring. The learning curve I previously mentioned is ongoing, although at least I have a meeting or two now under my belt. The IOA Board and Staff are a very supporting and welcoming group, and I encourage anyone who has questions to definitely reach out.
When I was mapping my term there were of course some large goals and some smaller ones. Vision benefit managers has been a topic brought forth in many states and has federal interest. Reporting of vision plan abuses encourages optometrists to ensure they are receiving appropriate compensation for their work. The VA and multiple US states have successfully promoted scope expansion and related care acts. All of these are the large items at the table, and many people are working to see them come to fruition. But I think my completion of a few much, much smaller goals holds a better lesson.
I've attended a couple of meet-and-greets within the community, at ICO, at the AOA Leaders Summit, and at SECO. My purpose was not to convert non-members, nor to promote any particular agenda. Rather I was making sure that anyone who had IOA concerns knew there was someone available. I participated in several general conversations and gained a few new acquaintances. My small goal was to ensure they could reach out and put a person to the name. As much as I prefer to remain behind the scenes, this, to me, is useful. I've also discussed the importance of keypersons within legislative districts.
I think most people believe that serving as a keyperson means they will be responsible for multiple functions, visiting headquarters, hounding politicians on policy, and devoting a significant time and monetary commitment to the political arena. When really what we need is a variety of concerned optometrists who are willing to reach out and introduce themselves to their Senator or House Representative. There is no initial ask. There is no request for an in-person meeting to convey the urgency or importance of various bills. We need people who at a grass-roots level want to have the potential to bring up an optometric topic if called up on to do so. When the time comes to expand scope, a keyperson having any relationship with their assigned legislator could be asked to speak on the importance of the doctor/patient relationship and access to care.
So far I have submitted 5 names of willing keypersons, not a great number by any means, but 5 more than we had last month. And any one could make a difference. I will continue to promote legislative goals to the students at ICO, and have counterparts at CCO doing the same. For now I am enjoying my small successes. I encourage you to consider setting or completing a few small goals as well, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment by moving them forward. And any ideas you have for me within my role as LD, please reach out to jmcmahon@ico.edu or mcmahon@ioaweb.org.
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Thank you to our newest PAC donor!
Krystina (Glimmer) Eubanks, OD
Southern Society
| | | IOA member Connor Robbs, OD was recently featured on Dr. Kerry Gelb's Open Your Eyes Podcast speaking on Shaping the Future of Eye Care. | |
Advancing Community Eye Care: Optometry Students Learn Cutting Edge Visual Technology
— Driving simulator provides real-world experiences for patients, students
Midwestern University | News & Stories
March 10, 2025
Midwestern University’s Multispecialty Clinic offers students the opportunity to utilize advanced technology while working with patients. Students and faculty from the Chicago College of Optometry (CCO) are reaping the advantages of incorporating the M2000 Driving Simulator, available at the Eye Institute in Downers Grove for advanced patient care.
“A few of the benefits of having this type of driving simulator technology is that it allows for patients to practice practical driving skills in a safe, immersive environment. Patients practice over time and build up their skills where they might be deficient or need more work, and gain confidence as they become better with the skills,” said Parres Wright, O.D., FAAO, Clinic Care Lead, Chicago College of Optometry (CCO). Dr. Wright also said the driving simulator technology assists patients who have a variety of visual impairments such as areas in their vision that are blurry or missing, newly decreased vision, and patients who can meet daytime driving requirements. In addition, the driving simulator is useful for patients who struggle with memory, physical therapy patients who need to have their reaction time checked, and special needs patients, she shared.
The driving simulator offers driving scenarios such as rural and highway, daytime and nighttime, weather conditions like fog, obstacles, and distracted driving situations such as the cell phone ringing, Dr. Wright described. “We look at different aspects like braking rate and reaction time,” she emphasized. There are also options to change the car used in the scenarios, as the vantage point is different depending on the type of car, such as a sports car or an SUV.
Dr. Wright highlighted a sample of a city driving scenario and described some of the situations patients could face such as merging onto the highway to go to the city, stopping at intersections, dealing with pedestrians crossing, stopping frequently, and stoplights. The M2000 Driving Simulator also provides data points on a report such as the amount of time it took the patient to step on the brake, braking rate, excessive braking, if there was enough time to stop, and how well the patient navigated intersections, Dr. Wright stated.
The opportunity to work with the driving simulator is also beneficial for students as they embark upon becoming future optometrists. “The students get to see cutting edge technology when it comes to low vision rehabilitation and overall rehabilitation of patients, which I think is excellent. They get hands on experience in seeing some of the challenges and situations that patients might be coming in for, why having something like a driving simulator might be great for patients, and to know that this kind of technology exists for patients that they may need to refer in the future,” Dr. Wright shared.
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Optometry student George Bagay (CCO ’25) discussed, “As a future optometrist, understanding how vision affects daily tasks, especially driving, is crucial. The M2000 simulator reinforces the importance of comprehensive visual and motor assessments beyond standard eye exams. It also helped me develop a better sense of communicating specific goals and objectives that were met at each session. Explaining findings to patients in a way they can understand is essential for patient counseling and education on driving safety.”
Through this experience, George gained a deeper appreciation for the challenges some patients face. “One of the biggest takeaways was seeing how driving obstacles that to me are monotonous or simply annoying, can have a profound impact on the driving ability of those who live with visual impairment. The experience emphasized a safe learning environment for the patient that allows for early intervention to prevent accidents and maintain patients’ independence. It also reinforced the idea that optometry extends beyond prescribing glasses, through assessing functional vision and its impact on the quality of life,” George said.
He also emphasized the role of the simulator in helping patients understand their visual strengths and limitations. “I hope patients gain a better understanding of their visual capabilities and limitations. The simulator can help them recognize areas where they may need to improve reaction time, visual scanning, or contrast sensitivity. It encourages responsible decision-making about their ability to drive safely, ultimately protecting themselves and others on the road,” he shared.
Dr. Wright continued, “I would hope that patients would take away a sense of hope that there may be a possibility that they can regain some skills, do the testing, go through the training, and pursue driving if they're able. The M2000 Driving Simulator is an added value for our patients that we have in the clinic.”
Photo source: Midwestern University
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Do you have a business question or a dilemma we can answer for you? Others may have the same inquiry. Ask away! We will answer your question in an upcoming issue.
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Report illegal and unsafe contact lens sales to the FDA & FTC
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| | | The Eyes on Tomorrow Fund, previously known as the Legislative Equity Fund, is a dedicated resource created by and for optometrists to support the Illinois Optometric Association’s (IOA) state-level advocacy efforts. This fund directly empowers optometry’s fight for scope expansion, the regulation of Vision Benefits Managers (VBMs), and other legislative battles crucial to protecting the profession and ensuring patient care. Unlike political action committees (PACs), this fund is not used to support candidates but instead provides critical resources for advancing optometry in Illinois. | | |
MEMBER BENEFIT: Free On-Demand CE!
Courses for the 2024-2026 licensing cycle are now available on the On-Demand CE platform. ODs can take all 18 regular hours of CE online through the On-Demand CE Series. As an Illinois licensed CE provider, all courses taken through IOA will count for an Illinois license renewal.
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Report Vision Plan Abuses to the IOA
The IOA recognizes that Vision Care Plan Regulation Act constitutes a significant stride forward for optometry. However, it doesn't signal the conclusion of our efforts to champion fair contracting with vision plans. In the next few years, our members will be renewing and amending their contracts to reflect the changes in the new law. Throughout this process, we will gain valuable insight directly from our members regarding instances of vision plan abuses.
If you encounter vision plan abuses, we ask that you fill out the form below to report abuse. The IOA will collect this information to prevent further vision plan abuses on behalf of our members.
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IDFPR Says All Healthcare Licenses to Shift to New System by End of Year
Health News Illinois | By Ryan Voyles
March 13, 2025
Leaders at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation told lawmakers Wednesday they expect to shift all healthcare licenses to their new online system by the end of the year.
IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto Jr. told the House's Health Care Licenses Committee members that they share their urgency in adding those licenses to the system.
“I understand how challenging it can be to not have appropriate healthcare providers, so we are in alignment with you,” he said.
First announced in August, the system sends prospective licensees electronic notifications when applications are received and reviewed and when licenses are issued.
The department said it would also improve its enforcement services, including complaint intake and review, document tracking and investigations.
The agency is in the first phase of the new online licensing system. Last fall, the department tested it with licenses for clinical psychologists, music therapists and nail technicians, and certified professional midwives and three other professions were added to the online system in January.
The goal is to add all licensed professions in the next two years, said Camile Lindsay, director of the agency's Department of Professional Regulation.
As they prepare to shift to the third phase, which will include all medical licenses, she said they want to ensure they are not simply transferring their old processes to the new system.
“We want to look at application by application and do a review of how we can streamline those applications,” she said. “I expect not only will your constituents be happy because they are able to use this new and improved system, but they will see differences in even the way that we are requesting information, the way that they are able to keep track of what the status is of their applications, how they submit money, et cetera.”
Treto said the current snapshot of average processing times is 22.5 days for behavior analysts, 22.5 calendar days, 28.5 days for clinical psychologists, just over 22 days for midwives and nearly 19 days for music therapists.
The goal is to process licenses between four-to-six weeks, he said.
“As a result of both streamlined application and review processes, (we) fully anticipate reduced processing times for licensure for roughly all 300 licensure types,” Treto told lawmakers.
Lawmakers expressed optimism about the current progress.
Rep. Bob Morgan, a Democrat from Deerfield and chair of the committee, said that in his decade-plus government career, he was “hard-pressed to think of a turnaround like this.
“I think if you continue down this path, the next time you come together with us, I think you will have a success story that will really be one of the very few, true turnarounds that we've seen from the state agency that I can remember,” he said.
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Morgan Winters Confirmed as Get Covered Illinois Director
— Winters will lead Illinois’ transition to an independent, State-Based Health Insurance Marketplace
Get Covered Illinois | Release
March 10, 2025
Springfield–The Illinois State Senate confirmed the appointment of Morgan Winters as the Director of Get Covered Illinois. Get Covered Illinois, a division of the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI), is the official Health Insurance Marketplace for Illinois consumers to purchase quality, affordable health coverage. Get Covered Illinois is transitioning to become a fully independent State-Based Marketplace for plan year 2026.
“We are very fortunate to have Director Winters leading Illinois’ transition to a State-Based Marketplace,” said IDOI Acting Director Ann Gillespie. “This work is vital to expanding healthcare access, affordability, and choice for the people of Illinois. Director Winters’ vast Marketplace and leadership experience will be invaluable during this transition.”
An experienced healthcare professional, Winters most recently served as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer for MNsure, Minnesota’s Health Insurance Marketplace. Winters’ leadership with MNsure also includes previous service as the Senior Director of Business Operations, Director of Policy and Plan Management, and Manager of Operations and Contact Center. Winters was recognized by his peers and was awarded the State of Minnesota’s IT Project of the Year in 2022 for his strategic leadership executing the provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act.
“I am honored to have been chosen to lead Illinois’ transition to a State-Based Marketplace,” said Get Covered Illinois Director Winters. “I’m looking forward to continuing my work with the Get Covered Illinois team as we build a Marketplace that responds to the unique needs of our state residents.”
Under Director Winters’ leadership, Get Covered Illinois enrolled nearly 466,000 Illinoisans in health plans during the 2025 Health Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment Period, a 17% increase from the previous year. He will now focus organizational efforts on completing Get Covered Illinois’ transition to a State-Based marketplace. Follow our progress here.
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House Commitee Approves Regulations of AI Use by Insurance Coverage, Other Bills
Health News Illinois | By Ryan Voyles
March 12, 2025
The House’s Insurance Committee approved several bills Tuesday, including one to regulate how health insurers use artificial intelligence to decide coverage and whether to deny care.
The plan from Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, expands the Department of Insurance’s oversight of insurers to include how they use AI systems to make or support adverse determinations that affect consumers.
Insurers would have to provide certain information so the agency can investigate or perform market conduct reviews related to AI tools. They also cannot deny, reduce or terminate plans or benefits based solely on using any AI system such as generative or machine learning.
Another provision requires the annual disclosure to a consumer on how AI could be used in the determination of a claim.
“The bill expands upon some of the changes we've made in the past few sessions… dealing with prevention and preventing inappropriate adverse determinations when a clinical peer and appropriate healthcare professional is standing between them and their health,” Morgan said.
He said an amendment is forthcoming to tighten up language on definitions on things like artificial intelligence, as well as to clarify it only relates to health insurance.
Another proposal from Rep. Mary Gill, D-Chicago, will require health insurance providers to cover medication that slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
That includes coverage for all medically necessary diagnostic, testing and medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It also prohibits insurance providers from instituting step therapy measures requiring a patient to try a less-costly alternative treatment.
David Olsen, director of state affairs from the Alzheimer's Association Illinois Chapter, said negotiations removed opposition, with the insurance sector moving to neutral on the plan.
A coming amendment will clarify that the bill does not apply to Medicaid managed care plans, which are already covered under a federal requirement.
The committee also took up legislation from Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, that tasks DOI to conduct a study on why individuals are uninsured and whether insured individuals are covered through an employer-sponsored plan or through the marketplace.
Another provision requires hospitals to provide health insurance coverage to all of their workforce.
Dave Gross, senior vice president of government relations for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, said they agree with the study, but cannot support the coverage requirement.
He said they do not understand why hospitals are singled out for the mandate. Along with a federal requirement for large employers like hospitals to provide insurance to employees, Gross said the term “workforce” in this bill is very broad and could apply to things like nurses contracted through staffing agencies.
Lilly said she’ll continue to work with the association and other stakeholders to discuss the next steps for the two elements of the plan.
And the committee took up a bill from Rep. Nicolle Grasse, D-Arlington Heights, intended to streamline reimbursement and reduce administrative burden for dental care.
The bills passed along party lines, with Republicans saying they want to see final language before supporting the legislation.
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House Spending Bill Excluded Fix for Medicare Physician Fees. What's Next?
— Many supporters are looking to a reconciliation bill expected later this year
MedPage Today | By Joyce Frieden
March 12, 2025
Now that the House has passed a spending bill that doesn't include a reversal of the 2.83% cut to the Medicare physician fee schedule, congressional supporters and physician groups are trying to figure out their next move.
The spending bill, which passed Tuesday by a vote of 217-213 almost entirely along party lines, keeps the government funded through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. It keeps funding the same for most government programs, and also included extensions of telehealth flexibilities and the "Hospital at Home" waiver program. The measure still must be approved by the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.
Members of Congress who support the reversal of the cuts have several options to choose from, explained Chet Speed, chief policy officer at the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) in Washington, D.C., during a Zoom interview Wednesday at which a press person was present. The first option is to include it in a reconciliation bill that Congress will take up later this year in order to extend President Trump's 2017 tax cuts and pass other items dealing with defense and border issues.
Rep. Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC), who has been leading the charge to reverse the cuts, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) "agree for Doc Fix to be in Reconciliation. Hopefully long term."
Murphy's last sentence referred to getting a fix for the problem that would last for several years. Ideally, Speed said, the cut would not only be reversed but physicians would also get automatic annual fee updates based on the Medicare Economic Index (MEI), a measure of healthcare inflation.
The question is, how soon would the reconciliation bill be considered? "I know House Republicans want to get this done by Easter, and the Senate Republicans are taking a more deliberate approach to it, and some of them are talking about summer -- late summer, August -- so the time to pass the bill is up in the air," said Speed. "From our perspective, the time to pass the 'doc fix' is now, not August."
The 2.83% cut, which became effective Jan. 1, is already having an impact on physician practices, according to a survey of 131 AMGA members taken Feb. 24-28. The survey found that 25% of respondents said they had laid off or furloughed clinical staff; 31% had laid off or furloughed non-clinical staff, and 13% said they were no longer accepting new Medicare beneficiaries.
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FDA Approves Ocular Implant for Vision-Threatening MacTel
— Revakinagene taroretcel is the first approved treatment for macular telangiectasia type 2
MedPage Today | By Ian Ingram
March 7, 2025
The FDA approved revakinagene taroretcel (Encelto) as the first treatment for adults with idiopathic macular telangiectasia (MacTel) type 2, Neurotech Pharmaceuticals announced on Thursday.
A rare, progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with loss of macular photoreceptors in the retinas, MacTel type 2 leads to central vision loss and functional impairment.
Revakinagene taroretcel is an encapsulated cell therapy that delivers therapeutic doses of ciliary neurotropic factor (CNTF) -- 200,000-440,000 allogeneic retinal pigment epithelial cells expressing recombinant human CNTF -- to the affected eye via a surgical intravitreal implant.
Approval was based on results from a pair of sham-controlled phase III trials that showed the revakinagene taroretcel implants could significantly slow the loss of macular photoreceptors over 24 months.
Across the two trials, the rate of change in elliptical zone loss from baseline, the primary endpoint, declined by 29-56% in patients randomized to revakinagene taroretcel while those assigned the sham intervention had a gradual increase in the area of loss. Retinal sensitivity and reading speed -- secondary endpoints -- each improved in one of the studies.
"I have seen the impact that MacTel can have on patients and their quality of life," said study investigator Charles Wykoff, MD, PhD, of Retinal Consultants of Texas in Houston. "Now with an FDA-approved treatment, I am confident that Encelto will be able to meaningfully slow disease progression for many patients affected by MacTel, allowing them the opportunity to preserve more functional vision over time."
According to the prescribing information, common adverse events in the studies (incidence of 2% or more) included conjunctival hemorrhage and hyperemia; delayed dark adaptation; foreign body sensation; eye pain, irritation, discharge, and pruritus; suture-related complications; miosis; ocular discomfort; vitreous hemorrhage; blurred vision; headache; dry eye; cataract progression or formation; vitreous floaters; severe vision loss; anterior chamber cell; and iridocyclitis.
The implant is contraindicated in patients with eye infections and those with a hypersensitivity to endothelial serum-free media. Warnings and precautions include vitreous hemorrhage and risks related to implantation, including severe vision loss.
Revakinagene taroretcel is expected to hit the U.S. market in June, according to Neurotech.
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