Legislative Representation

MOA Representation

• Optometry is a limited license profession, defined by the Michigan Legislature. The MOA has a long record of actively representing the profession of optometry on political issues. Teams of volunteers, working with the MOA’s Executive Director and our professional lobbyists Governmental Consultant Services, Inc. have won numerous victories over our opponents in the Michigan Legislature. These efforts have protected and expanded the scope of practice in our state, which directly affects you and your practice.
  
  
• Managed care and new scope of practice issues make state legislative representation by the MOA more important now than ever before. This was proven in December, 2002, when Blue Cross came to the decision to reimburse optometrists and patients for medical eye care, and Public Act 599 went into effect, allowing optometrists to utilize all diagnostic drops, treat glaucoma without consultation with a specialist, and prescribe oral medications.
  
  
• The MOA will be there as your advocate, but your help and financial support are vital to the success of those efforts. We work together to maintain your right to practice independently and to keep the freedom to expand your scope of practice!

Grassroots Optometry (GO!)

• Political involvement by optometrists is imperative if we are to be successful in the Michigan legislature. Grassroots Optometry is a professional service contracted by the MOA for the benefit of its members in order to help individual optometrists become politically active. The GO! organization provides a steady flow of current information to optometrists regarding political issues, fund-raising events for legislators, and strategies to develop a rapport with state senators and representatives. How the GO! Pledge System Works. Act TODAY!

AOA Representation

• Federal laws, regulations and rulings cut across the state lines to have a direct bearing on you and your practice. The AOA is the unified voice of optometry that represents and protects your profession and optometric patients in Washington. Over 32,000 optometrists are represented by the AOA before Congress, federal regulatory agencies, and federal courts as decisions are made that affect your professional future. As health care reform issues continue to be debated across the nation, the future of health care delivery, as well as optometry’s role, remains in the hands of the federal government. We must all support the efforts of the AOA to continue to represent optometry’s interests in communications with the national third party providers and lawmakers.