Sound and Fury: Leaders in Eye Health Field Come Out and Say Nothing about the Supreme Court Health Care Reform Ruling

David Parke II, M.D. and ceo of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, issued this statement  for the AAO in response to U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: 

The American Academy of Ophthalmology is committed to working with Congress on solutions to expand coverage for the more than 40 million uninsured individuals in the United States, and simultaneously push for key changes in the health care law that protect patients' access to quality vision care. The Supreme Court's ruling that the health care law is constitutional is just one chapter in a book that is still being authored. The outcome of the November elections will be another important chapter. Ophthalmology and the medical community look forward to continuing to play a key role in ensuring the highest quality of care for all Americans.

Said Dori Carlson, OD and president of the American Optometric Association; and Ronald L. Hopping, OD and president-elect of the American Optometric Association:

 Battling organized medicine, insurers, and others with an anti-optometry agenda, AOA fought for and won a valued seat at the Washington, D.C. table as the debate over health reform intensified. And, as key health reform decisions are made in the nation’s capital and in statehouses across the country in the coming weeks and months, AOA will continue working to advance pro-access, pro-patient solutions aimed at ensuring that doctors of optometry and their patients are treated fairly under health reform and that policymakers and others fully understand the central role that optometrists play in enhanced care delivery and improved health outcomes.

Said Staurat Thomas, OD, chairman of the board of VSP:

We remain steadfast in our belief that stand-alone vision plans – which cover over 100 million Americans – should have the opportunity to participate directly in the Exchanges, and we will continue to advocate strongly for independent doctors and their patients towards this goal. 

Least you forgot your Shakespearean studies: To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, / To the last syllable of recorded time; / And all our yesterdays have lighted fools / The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! / Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, / And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.--Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28.