CAOA Government Affairs Weekly
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Inside this issue
  Legislative update  
  California's legislative bill introduction deadline was Friday. COA is backing three main bills, scope of practice, children's vision and restoration of Medi-Cal services:

Scope of practice - Assembly Member Rudy Salas has introduced AB 443, a spot bill that will ultimately be amended to expand the scope of practice of optometry. As you may know, Assembly Member Salas is the chair of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee, the committee through which scope of practice legislation must move.  COA is pleased Assembly Member Salas wants to pursue this legislation and looks forward to working with him to craft legislation that will expand access to health care for millions of Californians.

Children's vision - At the request of the State Board of Optometry, Assembly Member Autumn Burke has introduced AB 1110, legislation to require children to undergo a comprehensive eye exam upon starting school. This bill is co-authored by Assembly Member Evan Low, Senator Andy Vidak and Senator Janet Nguyen.

Medi-Cal - At the request of VSP, Assembly Member Ken Cooley has introduced AB 1092, a bill that would restore Medi-Cal coverage of one pair of eyeglasses provided every two years to an individual 21 years of age or older. This bill is co-authored by Senators Jim Nielsen, Toni Atkins and Jeff Stone and Assembly Member Evan Low.
 

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  State Board of Optometry to undergo legislative review  
  The State Board of Optometry (SBO) has its Sunset Review hearing next week. Every four years all state regulatory boards must undergo a legislative review process called "Sunset Review." During the review, the SBO must justify its continued existence and respond to legislative oversight questions. COA's External Relation Manager, Kara Corches will be testifying on behalf of COA at the hearing. If you have any issues or concerns, please contact Kara this week. Watch the Sunset Review hearing live on February 27 by clicking here. The Joint Senate and Assembly Business and Professions Committees Sunset Review hearing begins at 9:00 a.m. in Room 4203. The State Board of Optometry is third on the agenda. The SBO's December 2016 sunset report is available here.  

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  Prior authorizations slowing down your patient care? AOA needs your feedback  
  Many health insurers require doctors to obtain approval before providing certain procedures or medications to patients. This prior authorization process is an attempt to control costs, but often becomes an administrative burden for doctors of optometry and an impediment to care. Overall, this process can lead to inefficiencies in the health care system. To best advocate on behalf of our doctors, AOA is seeking more data from doctors of optometry on the overall burden of prior authorizations and their impact on patient care. Please complete the AOA's survey on prior authorizations so AOA can better advocate for more efficient approaches that respect a doctor's judgment in providing care.  

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  Small practices receive $20 million from the CMS to help with MACRA  
  The CMS on Friday announced it would give 11 community-based organizations about $20 million to help small practices prepare for changes in the way Medicare pays physicians.

The money is for the first year of a five-year program. The CMS said it plans to invest as much as $80 million more over the following four years to help clinicians with the Quality Payment Program under the 2015 Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act, or MACRA.

The organizations are expected to provide technical assistance to individuals or to practices of 15 clinicians or fewer. That assistance includes choosing and reporting quality measures, strategic planning and optimizing health information technology.

The contracts were awarded to Altarum, Georgia Medical Care Foundation, HealthCentric, Health Services Advisory Group, IPRO, Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement, QSource, Qualis, Quality Insights, Telligen and TMF Health Quality Institute.
 

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