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THE OTHER SHOE HAS DROPPED!
JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission) has recommended that OPTICIANS in VIRGINIA be DEREGULATED.
This is NO JOKE. This is the REAL DEAL.
If you are a LICENSED OPTICIAN IN VIRGINIA AND NOT A MEMBER OF OAV, WE NEED YOU NOW AND YOU NEED US TO WORK TO SAVE OUR LICENSES.
Join us at www.vaopticians.org TODAY! The legislation will come before the General Assembly in JANUARY.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judy Canty
.................well, well, well.
The forces behind the scene for a deregulated optical retail market in eyeglasses in Virginia have worked successfully to get it before the General Assembly for a vote to deregulate opticians in Virginia.
This could mean that they have enough members to vote yes to deregulate the optical retail sales in Virginia.
Another advance by the forces that promote a uncontrolled market.
There are 11 occupations regulated by DPOR that do not appear to meet the criteria for regulation that are established in the Code of Virginia. These occupations include community managers, opticians, residential energy analysts, soil scientists, waste management facility operators, landscape architects, naturalgas automobile mechanics, and others. State statute clearly indicates that the state should not restrict access to any occupation unless it is “necessary for the protection or preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public” (§ 54.1-100). These occupations do not meet the criteria, and regulation of these occupations could be reduced or eliminated through legislation.
see all of it:
http://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt509.pdf
It is a recommendation by JLARC, not a done deal. The Opticians Association of Virginia will fight this move tooth and nail.
Dear Virginia Optician,
On October 09, 2018 the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission (JLARC), a commission that conducts program evaluation, policy analysis and oversight of state agencies on behalf of the Virginia General Assembly, released a report recommending the DEREGULATION of OPTICIANS.
To be perfectly clear, this is an official recommendation for the deregulation of Virginia Opticians. No license would be required to manufacture, sell or dispense eyeglasses by any company or person in Virginia if this is allowed to stand.
Deregulation of Opticianry in Virginia would have dire consequences and negative outcomes for our patients, Optometrists and for all Licensed Opticians regardless of employer.
Patients will suffer because Opticians are specifically educated and trained to deliver the prescription as intended and to a standard of accuracy using a myriad of lens designs, materials, precise measurements and careful adjustments to achieve the best corrected vision. Opticians serve as the best patient advocate for and the knowledgeable professional between the doctor and patient when the prescription needs to be revised. In short, Licensed Opticians are trained to translate the doctor’s written prescription into functional eyewear, taking into consideration their wants and needs and to effectively communicate with the prescriber any issues that arise during the entire process.
Optometry has cause for concern because the deregulation of Opticians will only serve to further erode their control of eyeglass and contact lens prescriptions. With companies such as Opternative and other tele-refracting services becoming more prevalent, the Optometrists role in generating eyeglass prescriptions will also spiral downward.
For the average Optician in Virginia the results of deregulation will be catastrophic. Obviously the Opticians working in a big box retail environment will suffer when they are replaced by minimum wage employees or forced to make concessions. Opticians employed by MD’s or OD’s are not immune either as the downward spiral of retail pricing will not support the professional salary levels in many practices. In fact, the downward pressure will also be felt by the independent Optician/ business owner as they will be forced to reevaluate the cost of doing business with professional salaries.
The hard truth is the deregulation of our profession will be devastating for many parties and for many reasons. This is happening and will pass the Virginia General Assembly in January unless all of us fight to keep our profession.
There will be an opportunity to further discuss this issue at the OAV Fall Conference on November 3rd following the Am I Legal presentation at 5PM in Winchester, VA at the Holiday Inn-Historic Gateway. For more information, please visit the OAV website at www.vaopticians.org.
The Opticians Association of Virginia will continue to provide updates and calls to action but we need you to become a member and help. Please visit our website www.vaopticians.org and be ready to contact your respective legislators in the coming weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judy Canty
It has happened already in the of the most populated Canadian Provinces, and passed very easily.
British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. the most populated Provinces, have been deregulated, while Ontario is still under appeal.
Optical Dispensing was deregulated in Australia in 2009. One of the reasons given was to 'remove unnecessary costs to business'. The Government of the day also deregulated lift mechanics along with others. Needless to say I prefer to take the stairs now.
The flip side of the coin:
https://www.virginiamercury.com/2018...-deregulation/
Republican governors in Massachusetts occasionally bring this up and find it shot down by the democrat's in our House and Senate.
Who rules each branch in Virginia? Would a change November 6 create a more favorable legislature to keep licensing or are they, like Massachusetts, susceptible to "campaign contributors" aka corporate lobbyists spreading cash around to the right people?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Fester
................that probably is the right answer.
Ontario opticians have NOT been deregulated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Ryser
Regards,
Golfnorth
https://www.optiboard.com/forums/ima.../blob_blue.gif I practice in Ontario and the province has NOT been deregulated......................
https://www.optiboard.com/forums/ima...quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Golfnorth https://www.optiboard.com/forums/ima...post-right.png
I practice in Ontario and the province has NOT been deregulated.
Mt error and You are correct...............and I was wrong that this was about deregulation, post instead that it had to do with the court case against Coastal/Clearly which they lost and appealed.
TORONTO, ONTARIO ( Marketwired - December 14, 2016)
- In a move to protect Ontario patients, the College of Opticians of Ontario and the College of Optometrists of Ontario have turned to the courts, seeking an injunction that would prohibit Clearly, owned by Essilor Group of Canada Inc. from dispensing prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses online to the Ontario public, without following Ontario legislatio
So, tell me, is a license worth the paper it is printed on when a licensed optician requests a polarized plano in 1.67 because "that is what the patient requested"? AND, the lenses being replaced were for a brand new pair of off the shelf Marchon polarized suns. No clue about ABBE, no clue about specific gravity, no clue that the original lenses were already polarized with a BSAR. Didn't even suggest Trivex. Worse yet, come to find out, didn't know anything about Trivex. But, he has a VA license in good standing........I support both VA and MD locations, and I see far less idiocy from unlicensed MD opticians compared to the licensed VA opticians.
Sometimes, I just wonder out loud.......
Quote:
Originally Posted by lensmanmd
You will find people like that all over the world. So it does not mean that the profession in general is that bad.
However, opticians have for the last few centuries enjoyed a higher than usual gross profit because in the olden days there was a lot more breakage, due to the reason that lenses were only available in mineral glass.
It was mainly hand crafted work. Also the machinery to work glass lenses was very primitive until the 1950s when the first modern automatic edger was introduced by American Optical, but still had only a ceramic wheel.
This has all changed with all the modern equipment that is available these days. Breakage and redos are mainly due to or by human error these days.
However the pricing of this new type automatic machinery is in a higher echelon, so that many small retail opticians have stopped to do the work in their store and order the glasses finished at a wholesale lab and pay the higher price for it.
The retail store will charge their customers still the age old markup multiplier as if they had done the practical work themselves, which results in the highest possibel pricing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judy Canty
Hello Judy and THANK YOU!
What is the process for presenting opposing arguments to the proposed deregulation? What will the OAV be doing and how can we become directly involved in helping?
No, they spread the money around evenly. They aren't stupid.Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Fester
Deregulation is a slap in the face of eye care. Period.
Big business wormed its way into eye care over the past 40 years and now they are big enough (and our legislators are corrupt enough) to buy themselves the unhindered right to commercialize eye care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drk
....................then better get used to it and adjust your own business to the new old way, to compete and stay commercially alive and afloat.
Sears and their K-Mart, did not, and are going to their own funeral.
K-Mart isn't health care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drk
YES IT IS NOT...................however it belongs to Sears who went bankrupt over the last weekend, so it is a goner too.
I would say that your experience is an anomaly and not the norm.Quote:
Originally Posted by lensmanmd
OAV has a lobbying firm working with us to stop this short-sighted recommendation. What can you do? Join OAV. Your dues provide the working capital we will need. $30K is a big nut for us, but we are committed to the fight. www.vaopticians.org. If you're not a VA licensed optician, go to our Facebook and donate what you can!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyecare Pro
When I gave a lecture in NY this past weekend, this VA issue was raised and discussed. What I noticed was the discussion was almost strictly centered on the negatives if opticians ade delicensed.
Why not also focus on the positives and the benefits to the public of CEs, education and licensure?
B
We will be.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry Santini
I wish I could agree. Alas, I cannot, not from my chair, and not from what I see on a daily basis.Quote:
Originally Posted by Judy Canty
Here is an example. POW on a Silhouette 3 piece. PX having trouble with overall VA. I ask the licensed optician to provide me with full POW so that I could customize her PAL. The response, “it’s a Silhouette, I can’t take POW measurements”. This is an optician that has been Virginia licensed for close to two decades. What is so difficult about providing POW on SLHs?
I have worked closely with FL, NY and CT licensed opticians and never have I had any issues. The MD opticians, all ABO certified seldom give me issues. MD is unlicensed. Perhaps I’m expecting too much from our Virginia brethrens?
Well, that was uncalled for. As you know, I work for a lab as well. I'm also a VA licensed optician. I do not have the same experience with my VA accounts as you seem to. I wonder why?
So, since I have been an Optiboarder since 1995 and have never hidden behind a screen name, who are you and who do you work for? We can discuss lab issues like grown-ups.
In any event, this is not the post for this discussion. Though I am curious as to why you chose this thread to attack VA licensed Opticians.
Join OAV! Our members are the greatest resource we have and we need all 1900 of you to win this fight! www.vaopticians.orgQuote:
Originally Posted by Eyecare Pro
Judy
PM me and I will be more than happy to talk! There are reasons why I use a pseudonym. And you are right. It is unfair to put all opticians into a box, as many are highly qualified. Out of the 35 VA opticians that I support, 20 are excellent. It’s the balance that drive me batty. This is not an attack. It is more of a reality check. I bring this up b/c of the talks about deregulation that was posted earlier.
I look forward to touching base with you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judy Canty
.....................that will be interesting to follow.
Will you be able to mobilize the 1900 members and give your side their full support ?
Here is the link to the full text:
https://vaopticians.org/wp-content/u...hmond.com_.pdf
If the state of Virginia is foolish enough to remove the Opticianry license, you can be a wrench in the works. Refuse to train or help any unlicensed employee learn the ropes; or better yet, teach them the wrong way to do things. Hide your skills and knowledge from them. Deregulation will depend upon optical managers training all new employees off the street. Managers, You will be the new Opticianry program (with no pay increase)! So, step down from management positions if at all possible. Throw away your ANSI sheets. What's ANSI, I don't know? I just receive eyeglass orders from the Mexican labs and hand them directly to the customer. There is no problem solving. If you can't see, we'll just reorder. No harm, no foul. We won't actually alter any parameters based upon our years of training, we will just reorder. See you in another few weeks Mrs. Smith. Oh no, the lensometer is broken. Oh well, I stopped using it anyway. Now that we are deregulated, there is no need to check jobs. No need to read prescriptions either. If you type it in wrong, it can just be remade. Hand out any old contact lens to anyone who demands them. This could be a big boost for business at Halloween. Never mind the micro-cysts! We don't need regulated professionals selling medical devices like contacts and eyeglasses when a part time fry cook can do it! Put the fry cook on the phone with the doctors office and let them interpret the prescription together. Open the HIPPA files to any stoner off the street! Yeah baby, it's time to deregulate! Think it can't get worse? Think again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WorshipfulMaster
You better find out who initiated this whole thing, and maybe by pulling the right strings, you could stop it at the source.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WorshipfulMaster
Yes, lets all lower our standards to meritocracy levels. That will show them...That will show them that B&M locations aren't any better than on-line. :rolleyes: Please don't lower your standards. It only will elevate places like America's Worse (Best) and onliners perceived value.
Unfortunately, deregulation is in a frenzy across the country. Judy, please let me know if there's anything I can contribute to helping you maintain licensure in your great state.
At one time in the mid 1930s, Regulation was in a frenzy.
Times change
Quote:
Originally Posted by WorshipfulMaster
Hate to break it to you, but what you are describing is exactly what I experience on a daily basis in an non-licensed state, it is pathetic. If you are advocating this course of action, you are shooting your self in the foot. It is precisely what they want. The big companies do not want educated people, hell they don't even want people making decisions. Give them a flow chart and follow the rules, no brains need. Then they can pay them minimum wage.
In many countries, most or all professions are regulated by the governments country wide. Learning and passing tests in different levels is an obligation, to receive countywide or even internationally accepted professional certificates.
This system helps to keep the standard of quality delivered to the end user at a maximum.
However this affects only the quality of vision, which are the lenses, their materials and correctness of lens powers and systems.
Spectacle frames however can be made by anyone and anybody in any material you want, and at any pricing you can get away with.
The free for all frames quality, started with the “commercial branding” of frame lines by personality names and not the manufacturers make.
So within these brands you can actually get a highly priced frame, that was made with inferior quality or older systems, like the old rivet type hinges, but a fancy “brand name” to it.
So it has become a free for all world in the optical trade, and the forces for deregulation have become more powerful by trying to go through government levels.
There is a donation option on our Facebook page for anyone who can help. Thank you!Quote:
Originally Posted by optical24/7
Our licensing regulation was done in 1954.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry Santini
Democratic administration. Republican controlled General Assembly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Fester
Quote:
Originally Posted by lensmanmd
Intelligence and "savoir faire" by humans is not concentrated, nor missing in specified geographical areas.
Topnotch and ...............not so top notch professionals can be found everywhere and in any business in this world.
We are about to go at it with CVS soon. They want to deregulate our Opticians license in Rhode Island.
Posted previously.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyscream212
One of the many deep pockets pushing this:
https://news.kochind.com/news/2017/k...ng-regulations