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COA represents the interests of all optometrists in California. Our efforts are based on the following facts of life governing you and your practice:
COA represents the interests of all optometrists in California. Our efforts are based on the following facts of life governing you and your practice:
You can't practice without a license granted by the State of California.
The State Board of Optometry (SBO) issues that license and can take it away.
The State Legislature - Assembly and Senate - define what you can and cannot do in your practice.
Nine of the SBO's members are appointed by the governor; legislative leaders appoint the other two.
Your competitors work hard to gain every legal advantage they can get over you in every branch of state government.
That's why COA uses your dues to support a wide array of resources to advance optometry and protect your interests. COA invites you to join your leaders and peers on the front lines.
Current Priorities
Current Priorities
01. Increasing Medi-Cal reimbursement rates
01. Increasing Medi-Cal reimbursement rates
02. Scope of practice expansion
02. Scope of practice expansion
03. Lab choice for Medi-Cal eyeglasses
03. Lab choice for Medi-Cal eyeglasses
04. Improving children's vision care
04. Improving children's vision care
Big Wins
Big Wins
COA MEMBERS MADE THIS POSSIBLE.
COA MEMBERS MADE THIS POSSIBLE.
COA passed all three of our sponsored bills in 2021 and protected a bill that closed a legal loophole related to the corporate practice of optometry. This is a direct return on your dues investment. In 2022, COA passed SB 1237 to waive license renewal fees for optometrists in the military.
State Board of Optometry Sunset Review
State Board of Optometry Sunset Review
COA protected language in AB 1534, the board’s sunset bill, that requires physicians to be subject to the protections in B&P Code 655 (prohibiting interference in professional judgment). This is intended to make all companies follow the same rules and not allow corporations to use a physician group to get around the law. The lobbyists for some retail chains fought hard to oppose this provision. This bill also significantly increases fines for large companies that continue to break the law.
AOA Priority Issues
AOA Priority Issues
Put Patients and Doctors Back in Control of Important Health Care Decisions: Co-Sponsors Needed for DOC Access Act
Tell Your Legislator to Co-Sponsor the DOC Access Act Today!
Put Patients and Doctors Back in Control of Important Health Care Decisions: Co-Sponsors Needed for DOC Access Act
Tell Your Legislator to Co-Sponsor the DOC Access Act Today!
Tell Congress to Boost Medicare Pay
Help stop Medicare pay cuts and secure ongoing positive pay updates.
Tell Congress to Boost Medicare Pay
Help stop Medicare pay cuts and secure ongoing positive pay updates.
Help the VA Recruit and Retain the Doctors of Optometry our Veterans Need
Support increases to the doctor of optometry pay scale and give the VA the tools it needs to recruit and retain optometrists.
Help the VA Recruit and Retain the Doctors of Optometry our Veterans Need
Support increases to the doctor of optometry pay scale and give the VA the tools it needs to recruit and retain optometrists.
Take Action to Reinstate Optometry in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
We encourage the Administration to take swift action to include doctors of optometry in the NHSC loan repayment program in order to encourage primary eye care providers to practice in underserved communities and to increase access to needed care for patients.
Take Action to Reinstate Optometry in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
We encourage the Administration to take swift action to include doctors of optometry in the NHSC loan repayment program in order to encourage primary eye care providers to practice in underserved communities and to increase access to needed care for patients.
Help Make the Prescription Verification Process Simpler and Safer for Contact Lens Patients
Co-Sponsors Needed for the Contact Lens Prescription Verification Modernization Act
Help Make the Prescription Verification Process Simpler and Safer for Contact Lens Patients
Co-Sponsors Needed for the Contact Lens Prescription Verification Modernization Act
Major Legislative Achievements
Major Legislative Achievements
COA Timeline
COA Timeline
Keyperson Program
Keyperson Program
Have you communicated with your legislators by letter, fax, email or phone? Worked on a legislative campaign or gone to a fundraiser? Have you attended COA Legislative Day? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you already are a Key Person!
A Key Person is a COA member volunteer, an OD or student, who educates lawmakers about issues important to optometry. This grassroots work is incredibly powerful, as Legislators really do listen to their constituents.
There’s no better advocate than a doctor of optometry willing to commit time and resources to educate candidates for state office about the profession and to build relationships with lawmakers. Ready to win one for optometry?
Learn how and become a key to COA’s ongoing legislative success.
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