AFVCI Letter to Washington State Senators
Dear President Habib, President Pro Tempore Keiser, Vice President Pro Tempore Conway, Majority Leader Billig, Republican Leader Schoesler and distinguished members of the Washington State Senate,
Americans for Vision Care Innovation, a local and national coalition made up of think tanks and consumer groups, taxpayer advocates and pro- technology voices, representing millions of contact lens and glasses wearers from across the state and the nation,writes today in support of the compromise that has been reached around ocular telemedicine in the Washington State Senate.
As you are aware from our many letters to the Senate, our Coalition has been working to stop a ban of ocular telemedicine in Washington State for many years, and have been very concerned that the Legislature would pass a bill that would prevent patients from getting their contact lens and glasses prescriptions renewed online and from having the ability to get online vision checks.
We are pleased that the optometry and ophthalmology associations, the telemedicine industry and technology providers were able to forge consensus and craft compromise language to SB 5759.
The compromise bill being presented by these diverse groups preserves access to online technologies and allows Washington state residents to continue to use these time-saving innovative tools to get their vision checked and their prescriptions renewed online, without limitation just so long as access to and use of the meets the defined standard of care.
Washington state is known across the country for your commitment to both innovation in the health arena and sensible cost saving consumer and taxpayer friendly legislation. This compromise to allow ocular telemedicine now before the Senate will lower costs, increase choice and increase access to vision care for residents across the state. We urge all members of the Senate to support this compromise and thank you on behalf of all your constituents who wear contact lenses and glasses.
Sincerely,
Americans for Vision Care Innovation