Recently, AFB called upon organizations from throughout the vision loss community to formally endorse a petition to Congress urging law makers to extend Medicare coverage to low vision devices. The response has been overwhelming, and groups continue to voice their support. But we also heard from many individuals from around the country asking for the opportunity to participate. Now you can!
Join AFB's Change.org petition and tell Congress that it's time to end the failure of America's national Medicare system to cover low vision devices!
Sign the on-line petition
Once you've added your name to the petition, please share this invitation widely with your networks.
For decades, the vision loss community has been advocating for Medicare's coverage of assistive technologies, particularly low vision devices. Currently, Medicare will not pay for any device that happens to use a lens, regardless of whether such device incorporates any other features. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency responsible for the management of Medicare, has ruled that devices, such as low vision devices, that use a lens are excluded from coverage just as are eye glasses or contact lenses except in very narrow circumstances.
By joining and promoting this petition, you are playing a direct and meaningful part in our community's fight to overturn this unacceptable national policy and to secure coverage for vitally-needed low vision devices under Medicare. The federal agency that administers Medicare, CMS, is not going to provide coverage for these devices unless Congress tells them to. Repeated attempts to work through both the Bush and Obama administrations to overturn CMS's far-too-restrictive position on low vision devices have ben rebuffed, and official correspondence from the Congressional Vision Caucus and other leading law makers has not convinced CMS to act. Now is the time to urge Congress to take decisive meaningful action and direct CMS to extend appropriate coverage for low vision devices.
Sign and share the petition today!
