Volume 9, Issue 2│January 17, 2025

ASSOCIATION NEWS

Editor's Note: The IOA office will be closed Monday January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Registration is now open for the 2025 Winter CE Series. All courses are 6 hours TQ (test included in registration). Courses run from 9am - 4pm CT.

February 2, 2025

Location: Holiday Inn & Suites // East Peoria, IL

Speaker: Mohammad Rafieetary, OD

Course: "Exploring the Retina: Diagnostic Tools, Case Presentation, and Clinical Management"

February 23, 2025

Location: DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago-Alsip // Alsip, IL

Speaker: Chris Borgman, OD

Course: "Unlocking Diagnostic Challenges: A Journey Through Vision Loss, Retinal Brainteasers, Pituitary Insights, and OCT Rounds"

March 2, 2025

Location: Westin Chicago North Shore // Wheeling, IL

Speaker: Mile Brujic, OD

Course: "Anterior Segment Assault: Updates and New Strategies for Patient Management"

2025 Labor Law Posters Now Available! 📢

IOA has compiled the most recent Labor Law posters for both Federal and Illinois. Click the large photos below to download a PDF copy of the poster to send to your local printer. The poster will be 36"x 48". If you would like to print each document individually yourself, please use the links below to download each document individually.

Labor law posters

IOA/AOA Membership Renewal

2025 membership invoices have been mailed out, members should begin receiving invoices! Those on a recurring monthly or quarterly payment do not need to respond as your payment schedule will be automatically renewed.

Retiring soon? Don't forget to let us know!

2025 Dues Contest - Win A FREE Annual Meeting Registration!

Pay membership dues in full by 1/31/2025 and be entered into a drawing to win FREE registration to the 2025 IOA Annual Meeting in Schaumburg, Illinois! This includes your registration for the meeting and all CE testing fees associated with your registration but does not include hotel reservations.

Pay dues online

IOA's Chief Executive Officer Leigh Ann Vanausdoll attended an inauguration event last week with Speaker Pro-Tempore, Kam Buckner and Thom Serafin, Co-Chair of Serafin |Mercury Public Affairs firm.

NEWS FROM OUR SCHOOLS

Optometry, Occupational Therapy Students Perform Examinations on Dental Students

ASCO | Eye on Education Newsletter

January 2025

Students from Midwestern University’s Chicago College of Optometry (CCO) and Occupational Therapy (OT) Program held examination sessions for the first-year College of Dental Medicine (CDMI) students for their future practice success under the direction of Jenelle Mallios, OD, FAAO, Associate Dean, CCO; Melisa Alabsy, DDS, MHA, Director, CDMI; and Dana Lingle, OTR/L, CHT, Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy, College of Health Sciences (CHS-Downers Grove). The exams assist the dental students with proper practice for healthcare, help them correct any underlying issues, and encourage them to seek further medical care if necessary.

During the interdepartmental collaboration, the optometry students performed several vision tests on the dental students including depth perception, visual acuity (the eye’s ability to see details on an object from a certain distance and identify shapes), and retinoscopy (a test for refractive eye errors such as astigmatism, nearsightedness, and farsightedness). The optometry students also measured the dental students for their dental loupes, a magnification tool.

Optometry student Gavin Olson (CCO ’27) said, “It's been really fun to actually start to use the skills that we've been learning on real patients and test them, besides just working in the lab. This experience contributes a lot to our future. It’s one of the first steps we have in beginning our practice in becoming a doctor.” Gavin continued, “Coming to a vision screening like this is a great way to expose ourselves to what life might be like in a little bit when we’re working as optometrists or on mission trips.” He highlighted some of the vision tests the optometry students performed, including checking how the dental students could view an object up close and at a distance.

Optometry student Hannah Maples (CCO ’27) shared that the optometry students focused on near vision testing for the dental students. “We checked their eye fatigue because they’ll be using their near vision for extended periods of time.” Hannah also expressed that the dental students were interested in the tests the optometry students were performing, asking questions, and expressing appreciation for the interdisciplinary aspect of an education at Midwestern University. “As doctors, we’re going to be working with all types of other healthcare professionals and we might refer patients to them, so it’s important to know their expertise, how to communicate, and make sure we’re all a team to ensure that the patient’s health is taken care of,” Hannah said.

Hannah also mentioned that they might not always be performing vision tests in the space that they’re used to, and this experience gives them practice in other spaces, which prepares them for other types of experiences, such as mission trips or sporting events. “It’s nice to see how we make do with what we have and be put in different situations,” Hannah said.

Gavin and Hannah also reflected upon the interdisciplinary experience. “I would take away a new level of confidence in the skills that I’ve learned this far and the ability to approach a patient and take care of them, even when we’re not in a perfect exam room setting,” Gavin said.

Hannah continued, “I think it’s nice to work with people outside of our class and with a real-world situation where the patient doesn’t know what’s happening and for me to be able to explain the tests.”

Another interdepartmental screening between Occupational Therapy faculty and students and the dental students examined if the dental students were experiencing high or low degrees of hypermobility, as well as their pinch and grip strength. If any underlying issues were found, adjustments and treatments were recommended such as strengthening exercises, splits, or adding a 3D-printed hand piece to practice proper positioning to use the dental hand piece.

Dental student Ellie Manning (CDMI ’28) described the screening and expressed appreciation for Midwestern University faculty and students caring about their students’ health and career longevity. “It was a unique experience getting to work with occupational therapy students and faculty and seeing how they add corrective practices for mobility,” Ellie said.

Dental student Amrit Kaur (CDMI ’27) concurred as she reflected on her screening the previous year and how much the care from Midwestern University meant to her. “For the incoming dental students, this experience is great exposure. You get to feel parts of your hand that you didn’t think about so carefully before the screening. You know your whole career is going to be focused on your hands, and the occupational therapists are telling you firsthand what to work on and the resources available,” she said. Amrit is involved with the ongoing University research about hypermobility, and she discussed how the screening will help the students succeed. “When you start practicing in the Dental Simulation Clinic, with the faculty consistently telling us about ergonomics such as how to sit and hold instruments, then all these things come together. You start to think about longevity. If you know that those are the problems that can occur on your hands or on your overall musculoskeletal health, helps a lot and would help someone practice however long they want,” Amrit said.

The Midwestern University educational experience involves interdisciplinary collaboration, with the screenings as a way to introduce incoming students to an integral aspect of their future healthcare careers as they become future healthcare professionals including eye doctors, dentists, and occupational therapists.

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2/2- IOA Winter CE Series | East Peoria

2/4- Fox Valley Optometric Society Meeting & CE

2/23- IOA Winter CE Series | Alsip

3/2- IOA Winter CE Series | Wheeling

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.

Vision Plan Abuse Reporting Form

ILLINOIS NEWS

House Democratic Caucus Leadership- 104th General Assembly

Memorandum | By Emanuel 'Chris' Welch, Speaker of the House

January 10, 2025

As we prepare for the work of the 104th General Assembly, I am excited to announce a dynamic

leadership team that will work beside each of us and lead the way forward. This team is

comprised of both veteran public servants and new leaders. They reflect our diversity and will

work alongside me as we foster unity and address new challenges as well as legacy challenges.

These leaders are positioned to bring their strengths to bear for the benefit of our Caucus and

the people of Illinois.

Our leadership team will consist of:

Robyn Gabel, Majority Leader
Kam Buckner, Speaker Pro-Tempore and Co-Budgeteer
Robert ‘Bob’ Rita, Deputy Majority Leader
Elizabeth ‘Lisa’ Hernandez, Deputy Majority Leader
Jay C. Hoffman, Assistant Majority Leader
Jehan Gordon-Booth, Assistant Majority Leader
Camille Lilly, Assistant Majority Leader
Eva-Dina Delgado, Assistant Majority Leader and Co-Budgeteer
Dagmara ‘Dee’ Avelar, Assistant Majority Leader
Theresa Mah, Majority Conference Chair
Nicholas Smith, Majority Officer/Sergeant at Arms
Ann Williams, Assistant Majority Leader*
Marcus C. Evans, Jr., Assistant Majority Leader*
Will Guzzardi, Assistant Majority Leader and Co-Budgeteer*
Curtis J. Tarver II, Assistant Majority Leader*
Maurice West II, Assistant Majority Leader*
Katie Stuart, Assistant Majority Leader and Floor Whip*
Bob Morgan, Assistant Majority Leader and Floor Whip*
Edgar Gonzalez, Jr., Assistant Majority Leader and Floor Whip*

I hope you will join me in welcoming the new members of our leadership team: Leaders

Delgado, Avelar, Williams, Tarver, West, Guzzardi, Stuart, Morgan, and Gonzalez. While they

are new to our leadership team, their talent, hard work, and dedication to collaboration has

shown them as proven leaders within our Caucus.

*Denotes non-stipend leadership position.

Additionally, the subcaucuses have chosen a group of emerging leaders who will play a role in

my leadership team:

Janet Yang Rohr, Asian Caucus Chair

Justin Slaughter, Black Caucus Chair

Norma Hernandez, Latinx Caucus Chair

Terra Costa Howard, Moderate Caucus Chair

The Women’s Caucus Chair and Progressive Caucus Chair will be determined next week.

We have much work to do for the people of this state and I am proud to stand alongside these

outstanding leaders, as well as the rest of our Caucus, to continue down the path of progress

and purpose for all of Illinois.

I will be calling members who are eligible to serve as committee chairs this weekend. Please

answer your phones so this process can be completed as expeditiously as possible.

Welch Announces New House Committee Chairs

Health News Illinois | By Ryan Voyles

January 14, 2025

The Illinois House of Representatives has named leaders of its committees for the coming legislative session.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said in a statement that committee chairs provide “invaluable legislative knowledge, firsthand experience at the critical junctures where policy is implemented on the community level, an abiding sense of compassion and a deep appreciation for the importance of the work we’re doing on behalf of Illinois families.”

For notable healthcare committee appointments:

Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, will chair the Appropriations-Health and Human Services Committee.
Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, will chair the Healthcare Licenses Committee.
Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, will chair the Healthcare Availability and Access Committee.
Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Glen Ellyn, will chair the Human Services Committee.
Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, will chair the Insurance Committee.
Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, will chair the Mental Health and Addiction Committee.
Rep. Jawaharial Williams, D-Chicago, will chair the Prescription Drug Affordability Committee.
Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Naperville, will chair the Public Health Committee.

Welch recently announced several changes to the House’s leadership team. While Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, remains majority leader, Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, will become speaker pro-tempore and co-budgeteer. Other co-budgeteers will be Reps. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, and Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago.

Former speaker pro-tempore and budgeteer Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, will serve as an assistant majority leader.

Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System Proposes $28.1 Million Medical Office Building in Effingham

Health News Illinois | By Ryan Voyles

January 13, 2025

Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System has asked state regulators to approve a planned $28.1 million medical office building in Effingham.

The health system said in its application to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board that the project at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center will expand space for cardiology services such as nuclear medicine and echocardiology, as well as ENT and lab services.

It will also expand space for non-clinical services, including for staff services, offices and a conference room.

“The (facility) will provide the patients of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center’s 10-county market area with a wide range of services in appropriately sized and configured facilities,” they said in the proposal. “The new medical office building will also provide patients with the opportunity to access healthcare services in one convenient location by consolidating several services into a centralized building.”

The review board has tentatively scheduled consideration of the application for its June 24 meeting.

AOA NEWS

InfantSEE ®: Upcoming events & opportunities

InfantSEE, a public health program, managed by Optometry Cares - The AOA Foundation, is designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an integral part of infant wellness care to improve a child's quality of life. Under this program, AOA member optometrists provide a no-cost comprehensive eye and vision assessment for infants 6-12 months old regardless of a family's income or access to insurance coverage.

Webinar opportunity that is open to paras, students, and doctors

Join us on January 23 at 7pm CT for an Infant Eye Care Webinar entitled Nurturing Vision Health in Children! This session will provide an in-depth exploration of best practices for conducting eye examinations on infants. In this interactive webinar, participants will learn effective techniques to enhance their comfort and competence when caring for this age group. This webinar is open to doctors of optometry, paraoptometric professionals and students.
Please share with support staff and doctors in your area who might be interested.

Call for Nominations for Dr. W. David Sullins Jr. Award

The Dr. W. David Sullins, Jr. InfantSEE Award recognizes an individual doctor of optometry who has made significant contributions to optometry or their community for outstanding public service involving the InfantSEE program. Nominate a deserving colleague by Feb. 10, 2025.
Our challenge is for every state advocate to nominate at least one doctor! We know how many passionate and deserving InfantSEE providers are out there. Please help us recognize them.

New, FREE InfantSEE public awareness materials

Earlier this year, InfantSEE refreshed our public awareness materials (i.e. brochure, calling card, poster, etc.). Order materials to share with your patients or a local community organization. Materials and shipping are free for InfantSEE providers and nonprofit organizations.
Please share these materials with any local community organizations/hospitals/doctors’ offices that you work with or that you think could benefit from more information on the InfantSEE program.

Please submit all outstanding InfantSEE assessments for the year using this quick and easy electronic form.

Important notes:
You do NOT have to login to your AOA account to utilize this form.
We can no longer accept paper forms due privacy considerations.
Every assessment helps us show how impactful this amazing program is!

AOA, WCO Open Call for Abstracts for 2025 Poster Sessions

The AOA and WCO invite you to participate in our Poster Sessions for Optometry's Meeting® 2025!

The Poster Session creates a national forum for clinicians, students and faculty to communicate interesting cases and unique research to their colleagues. Abstracts based on unique clinical cases featuring any and all aspects of optometric research will be reviewed and the submissions meeting the required criteria will be accepted for Poster presentation. All case reports and research must be complete and unpublished at the time of submission. Poster abstracts must be submitted electronically and be received by Feb. 14, 2025.

Important dates

Submission deadline: Feb. 14, 2025
Notification of acceptance: Mid-March 2025
Poster Session Recordings Available: Beginning May 23, 2025
Rapid-fire CE Course feat. Top 5 Poster Presenters: June 27, 2025
Optometry's Meeting: June 25-28, 2025

Visit here for requirements

INDUSTRY NEWS

Prolonged Preoperative Use of Glaucoma Eye Drops Linked to Risk for Trabeculectomy Failure

Healio | By Kate Young fact checked by Heather Biele

January 13, 2025

Extended preoperative use of topical glaucoma medications with preservatives may negatively affect long-term trabeculectomy outcomes, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

“Considering that trabeculectomy is typically performed in patients who were already treated with multiple glaucoma medications for extended periods, understanding the effect of long-term preoperative medication use on surgical outcomes is crucial,” Somi Lee, from the department of ophthalmology at Yeungnam University Hospital in Korea, and colleagues wrote.

In a retrospective study of 201 patients (309 eyes) with primary open-angle glaucoma who underwent trabeculectomy between 1999 and 2014, the researchers assessed the association between preoperative topical glaucoma medication with preservatives and long-term outcomes. They calculated a Glaucoma Medication Intensity Index (GMII) to quantify use of these medications and determined cumulative success rates after surgery.

According to study results, cumulative success rates for all patients were 89.3% at 1 year, 70.6% at 5 years, 59.2% at 10 years and 46% at 20 years.

Upon dividing the patients into surgical success and failure groups, based on the last follow-up visit, the researchers found that the GMII was significantly lower in the surgical success group at all timepoints. In addition, the low GMII group, defined as having a GMII less than 4.35, had a longer duration of surgical success and lower IOP at 20 years compared with the high GMII group.

Further, older age at surgery, higher GMII and subsequent cataract surgeries were significantly associated with surgical failure. Age at surgery or glaucoma diagnosis was positively and negatively associated with GMII and cataract surgery, respectively, following trabeculectomy.

“The prolonged preoperative use of glaucoma eye drops is a risk factor for trabeculectomy failure,” Lee and colleagues wrote. “The GMII can clinically quantify the cumulative use of glaucoma medications and help determine the optimal timing of surgery. Further research is needed to understand how long-term use of these medications affects conjunctival changes as well as bleb formation and function after trabeculectomy.”

NATIONAL NEWS

US FTC Finds Major Pharmacy Benefit Managers Inflated Drug Prices for $7.3 Billion Gain

Reuters | By Ahmed Aboulenein and Amina Niasse

January 14, 2025

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The nation's three largest pharmacy benefit managers have significantly marked up the prices of certain medicines, including for heart disease, cancer and HIV, at their affiliated pharmacies, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday.

From 2017 to 2022, the companies -- UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N), Optum, CVS Health's (CVS.N), CVS Caremark and Cigna's (CI.N), opens new tab Express Scripts -- marked up prices at their pharmacies by hundreds or thousands of percent, netting them $7.3 billion in revenue in excess of the acquisition costs of the drugs, the FTC said in its second report, on the industry.

"The $7.3 billion is the difference between what they are reimbursing themselves and what it is estimated to cost them to acquire the drug," an FTC spokesperson told reporters in a press briefing, adding that the figure was "probably an underestimate."

Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, act as middlemen between drug companies and consumers. They negotiate volume discounts and fees with drug manufacturers on behalf of employers and health plans, create lists of medications that are covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for prescriptions.

The FTC prioritized testimony from drugmakers and pharmacies, industries that benefit from weakening PBMs, said David Whitrap, vice president of external affairs at CVS Health.

An Optum spokesperson said the company lowers the cost of drugs and had helped patients save $1.3 billion in 2024.

A spokesperson for Cigna's Express Scripts described the report's findings as misleading, saying the calculations are based on a subset of medications that represent less than 2% of what our health plans spend on medications in a year.

The report said dispensing patterns suggested the companies were steering more profitable prescriptions, ones marked up more than $1,000 per prescription, to pharmacies that their parent companies own.

They also paid those pharmacies more than unaffiliated pharmacies for nearly every drug in the study, the report said.

In 2021, patient out of pocket costs for these drugs were at $279 million, an annual compound increase of 14%-21% since 2017, the report found.

The companies were generating an additional $1.4 billion over the study period from spread pricing - the practice of billing plan sponsors more than they reimburse pharmacies for drugs.

The FTC sued the three PBMs in September, accusing them of steering diabetes patients toward higher priced insulin products in order to reap millions of dollars in rebates from drugmakers.

The companies say the suit is baseless and defend their practices. CVS, UnitedHealth and Cigna in October asked the FTC to disqualify Chair Linda Khan from the insulin suit, citing alleged bias against their pricing model.

"We're confident that our actions are going to be upheld in the litigation, and we're not going to be distracted from our duty to inform the public and policy makers by the PBM scare tactics," the FTC spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Khan's term as chair officially expired in September. President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated Jan. 20 and has picked current Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to succeed Khan.

The FTC spokesperson said it was confident that Ferguson and other Republican commissioners support the FTC's work on PBMs.

US Proposes Payment Rate for 2026 Medicare Advantage Insurers

Reuters | By Puyaan Singh

January 10, 2025

Jan 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday proposed 2026 reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers that will result in a 2.2% increase in payments, compared with a decline of 0.2% last year.

Shares of insurers UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), Elevance Health (ELV.N), CVS Health Corp (CVS.N), and Humana (HUM.N), rose between 1% and 3.2% in extended trade.

The government payment rate affects how much insurers charge for monthly premiums, which plan benefits they offer and ultimately, how much they can profit.

The total increase in payments is estimated at 4.3%, or over $21 billion, when factoring in a 2.1% "risk score", an adjustment that accounts for potentially higher payments for patients with more severe health conditions.

The payment rate is used by companies such as UnitedHealth, Humana, Elevance and CVS's Aetna unit to prepare bids for contracts for Medicare Advantage plans they will sell in 2026.

"Overall, this was a highly favorable release given the contentious political environment and the recent proposals under this administration, and this should be very positive for the group and for stocks like HUM, UNH, and CVS," Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn wrote in a research note.

About 65 million people are enrolled in the government's Medicare program for people aged 65 and older or who are disabled, and more than half of them are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.

The proposed rate typically changes after feedback from insurers, other entities and the public. The final rate announcement will be published on or before April 7, 2025.

Under President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, annual out-of-pocket drug costs will be capped at $2,100 in 2026 for people with Medicare prescription drug plans, known as Part D, the government also said. That is an increase from 2025's $2,000 cap.