Union of American Eye Care Providers initiates anti-trust complaint against vision care plans

Agoura Hills, CA-Representatives of the Union of America Eye Care Providers recently met with the Department of Justice’s Healthcare Anti-Trust Division to argue the organization’s position that the vision care plan industry’s policies have an anti-competitive affect on the vision care industry.

The meeting laid the legal foundation for the Union’s position that vision care plans’ policies and rules lead to higher prices, lower quality, fewer choices, according to Union Executive Director Craig Steinberg, OD, JD.

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The Union’s anti-trust attorneys will now take over setting out the legal arguments in favor of a formal investigation by the Department of Justice.

Dr. Steinberg said the Union has been working on taking its case to the Department of Justice for several months, but has purposely kept quiet about it. He said that while the optometric community has been supportive, what really matters is whether the Department of Justice finds the vision care plan industry's actions to be illegal-not whether the optometrists believe so. 

"We've kept a low profile in order to do what needs to be done," he says. 

But regardless of the Department of Justice's final decision, it won't be the last you'll hear from the Union on the issue. 

"This is just the first step that the organization is taking," says Dr. Steinberg. "We have other plans down the road, and whether the Department of Justice decides to investigate, this is not the end all for the Union. This is just the beginning." 

The American Association of Doctors of Optometry (AADO) was renamed the Union of American Eye Care Providers in May 2014.

AADO renamed Union of American Eye Care Providers