More than 135,000 people in the US have signed a Coalition for Contact Lens Consumer Choice (CCLCC) petition urging Congress to reject legislation that it said would lead to reduced choice and increased costs for the country’s contact lens wearers.
CL patients in the US have been able to buy CLs at discounted prices from alternative retailers, whether online, in stores or over the phone since 2003, when the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA) was introduced.
Updated legislation introduced in April, the Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act (CLCHPA), tightened prescription verification, which the CCLCC group said would limit the consumers’ ability to access affordable CLs and allow optometrists to simply ignore verification requests from alternative retailers.
‘Contact lens consumers are right to be concerned about proposed legislation that would limit their ability to buy contact lenses from their retailer of choice," said Richard Chavez, senior vice president of Costco Wholesale, a member of the CCLCC.
‘They are getting exactly the same lens, whether they buy it from Costco or another in-store retailer, online or from an optometrist. The only reason the American Optometric Association is pushing this new legislation is to help its members capture more sales for themselves. If passed, this legislation would inconvenience contact lens wearers, raise prices and harm eye health.’
