In the U.S. health care system, patients are often too far removed from the payment for specific services, which results in a lack of price transparency and consumer choice. However, there are pockets of health care that do allow patients to shop for the best prices. Eye care, specifically the buying of contact lenses, is one such area. It is important to protect this competition.
Nearly 45 million Americans use contact lenses, which are considered “medical devices” that require a prescription to access. Patients can see the doctor of their choice, and after receiving a prescription for contact lenses, they are guaranteed the right to fulfill that prescription from their retailer of choice. They can buy from their doctor’s office, online retailers, or big box stores. This has not always been the case; in the early 2000s, Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stepped in to protect patient choice and competition.
The FTC’s contact lens rule (CLR) is designed to spur competition in access to contact lenses. In doing so, it guarantees patient choice and lowers prices. A simple mechanism in the CLR accomplishes this —requiring all prescribers to provide a patient with their prescription immediately after a contact lens fitting or renewal. To protect patient safety, the patient or prescriber must directly supply a retailer with the prescription. If this does not occur, the patient’s retailer of choice must verify the prescription directly with the prescriber via phone, fax, or email. The FTC requires retailers to gather and share specific information with the prescriber to ensure they provide the patient with the correct prescription.
Despite over two decades of success, including the FTC reviewing and updating the CLR, Congress is now revisiting the process of how Americans get access to contact lenses. In July of 2025, Congress introduced HR 4282, the Contact Lens Prescription Verification Modernization Act. The bill, which has been championed by prescribers, would add more administrative burden to the process of accessing contact lenses. The additional burden would likely push patients back to buying from their prescriber, instead of shopping for the best prices from other retailers.
If enacted, the bill would ban automated phone prescription verification. Verification by phone, email, or fax is merely a backstop for when prescribers fail to present patients with their prescription at the end of their fitting or renewal. The claim behind the bill is to make the verification process simpler, but the FTC has already addressed the effectiveness of using automated calls when updating the CLR in 2020. They found automated calls work in the majority of cases and were an efficient form of verification. This bill would create a bottleneck in the process by requiring retailers to use more expensive and less efficient methods to verify prescriptions, such as faxing or emailing. Instead, Congress and the FTC should address prescribers who are not complying with the CLR, consequently requiring verification. This does not serve patients by lowering prices, creating more efficient processes, or increasing access; all it does is complicate the process.
As inflation and the cost of health care continue to increase, patients are forced to make tough decisions between paying for health care services versus other living expenses. Congress should be focused on improving competition in health care, not complicating processes that have been working well for consumers for decades.
The Contact Lens Prescription Verification Modernization Act does not meaningfully improve eye care for patients but will impact the market competition for contact lenses. With the health care market continuing to consolidate at an alarming rate, it is essential for Congress to prioritize bills that improve patients’ safety, access, and choice while not overburdening patients, providers, and retailers with administrative steps. Congress should move on from this bill.
