Share:
Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 14, 2015 03:30 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Kim L. Ward |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Eye Care Parity |
| I am introducing legislation amending the Insurance Company Law to ensure competitive parity exists among eye care providers and patient choice is protected. Patients across Pennsylvania are being significantly limited in the choices they may make when it comes to eye care by growing consolidation practices and policies implemented by insurers. A growing number of eye care insurers now own and operate both commercial optical centers as well as large-scale optical laboratories. These are very profitable entities for the insurers, particularly in the way they are driving their own policyholders to them by limiting the choices their doctors may make when prescribing the best care possible. I was made aware by an eye care provider in my district of the growing trend among vision benefit plans (VBPs) to severely limit participating provider reimbursement if they choose an optical lab not owned by the VBP or outright mandate its use through their provider contracts. Regardless of the doctor’s concerns over the quality of the lenses fabricated by a VBP-owned lab, the time in which it takes for the patient to receive lenses from them, or the amount charged, the doctor – and therefore the patient – is left with no choice in situations such as this one. Furthermore, eye care insurers who own and operate optical centers are now competing with their own participating providers. These optical centers have huge unfair competitive advantages over the VBP’s credentialed providers because they have the names of all of their subscribers, and therefore can direct market to them to promote their optical centers over other eye care providers in or out of the network. This all makes competition among providers, optical laboratories, many of which are small businesses located in our communities, and optical centers very skewed in favor of those employed by, owned and operated by eye care insurers and jeopardizes patient access. My legislation attempts to restore a “level playing field” in the eye care industry, and ensure both patient freedom of choice when selecting a provider and providers’ freedom of choice to choose materials, fabrication and source of products and a uniform provider contract to allow a fair and equitable provider reimbursement. |
Introduced as SB978