May 26, 2021
Michigan Senate Health Policy Chairman Curtis VanderWall
201 Townsend Street, Room 1100
Lansing, MI 48933

Dear Chairman VanderWall and the distinguished members of the Michigan Senate Health Policy
Committee,

Lens.com, America’s best value in contact lenses for a quarter century, and a leading eye care innovation company, strongly supports HB 4356 and applauds the Michigan legislature for acting to ensure Michiganders have access to ocular telemedicine services.

Based in Las Vegas Nevada, Lens.com, Inc., a privately held U.S. corporation and a leading online destination for contact lenses since 1995, is the nation’s 2nd largest online retailer for contact lenses. We offer consumers all the popular brands of contact lenses at wholesale prices with convenient, quick delivery. Through its easy-to-use website, www.Lens.com and its toll-free telephone number “1-800 LENS.COM” (1-800-536-7266), Lens.com’s mission and passion is to provide consumers with the best way to buy contact lenses at the best prices using hassle-free business practices.

Hundreds of thousands of Michigan consumers who wear contact lenses, buy our products and rely on our services every year. With the swift passage of HB 4356, we will be able to ensure that these customers can have access to the latest technology to save them time and money when it comes to prescription renewal.

We know that you and your colleagues are under fierce assault by the special interests to try and stop this critically important bill. Powerful trade groups like the American Optometric Association and contact lens manufacturers have led the fight against innovative technologies like online vision checks, technologies that directly help patients in rural communities or patients who work shift jobs who don’t have access to an eye doctor or who work during “traditional” business hours and can’t come in for a routine prescription renewal appointment.

Making appointments, taking time off work, wasting time in waiting rooms while folks try to upsell you, and hidden fees for tests and services you don’t want are all frustrating. This process and equipment has seen little innovation in the past 75 years until now.

The passage of HB 4356 would allow companies like mine to provide Michigan consumers access to safe, convenient, and low cost prescription renewals for glasses and contacts – proven technology already benefiting millions of Americans in the vast majority of states in this country.

Vision care needs in this country are staggering; according to the Vision Council’s VisionWatch study, 67 million American adults have not had an eye exam in the last two years due to convenience and cost issues, and millions of Americans have never had an eye exam. Meanwhile, an estimated three-quarters of the US population needs some form of corrective vision care.

At Lens.com, we believe in a transparent test process and flat pricing to educate and empower our customers. Getting a prescription renewal for glasses or contacts through online, ophthalmologist-prescribed channels saves a patient on average 68.5% on a typical optometrist visit for an eye exam. Those exams cost $127 on average, based on a study by the Management & Business Academy.

As a self-made American businessman who has founded, built, and grown a successful business in this country for over 20 years, I believe that legislation should enhance, not diminish, consumers’ access to innovation, choice and opportunity.

In that spirit, Michigan should welcome tele-health by maximizing the types of technology that can be used; empowering providers to use the technology of their choice with patients; requiring secure use of information technology; eliminating barriers such as requiring prior in-person visits; and recognizing that telehealth is a tool, not a separate practice of medicine. Patients come first; it is that simple.

Thank you for your consideration. I honestly believe your constituents and my customers would benefit greatly with the passage of HB 4356 and I know you are committed to serving their best interests.

Sincerely,
Cary Samourkachian
Lens.com, Inc
Founder & CEO

Access the letter here.