Representative Randy Hultgren, 14th Congressional District of Illinois (r) with Chris Rorick from Bryan Cave, The Vision Council’s Government Affairs Council.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Joined by representatives from various member companies, The Vision Council held its annual Government and Regulatory Affairs Capitol Hill Fly-In highlighting its ongoing efforts to bridge relationships between member companies and their elected officials.

This full day of meetings with representatives and their offices stressed topics of high priority to the industry, including:
• The Affordable Care Act’s pediatric essential vision benefit, and the need to classify it as a preventive essential benefit when the ACA essential benefits are reviewed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2016.
• Support for HR 1185, effectively increasing the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) spending limit from $2,500 to $5,000.
• Applications filed with the FDA by The Vision Council’s members for Unique Device Identifier (UDI) exemption under Class 1 medical devices, and alternate plans for a letter signed by Members of Congress if the FDA does not approve the initial application.

“As the representative of the manufacturers and suppliers of the optical industry, our members need and expect The Vision Council to give a voice to their concerns on Capitol Hill,” said Mike Daley, CEO of The Vision Council. “Our annual Government and Regulatory Affairs Capitol Hill Fly-In allows us to bring together key Members of Congress with representatives from our member organizations to shine light on the latest issues affecting the industry, and ensure the best possible outcomes for the future of our members.”

The Vision Council’s Government Affairs Committee members represent companies from several divisions. Represented at the Fly-In were member companies including Hoya, Zeiss, Wal-Mart, Charmant USA, Enso Eyewear, Expert Optical, Vision-Ease Lens, Transitions Optical and ClearVision Optical.

Meetings were held with multiple elected officials and their offices, including: Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), Rep. David Jolly (R-FL), Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR).