As many of you know, ACB provides testimony, writes comments on guidelines and provides input on regulatory and legislative matters on a fairly regular basis. Copies of ACB's formal comments to various Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) can be found on the website at www.acb.org.
This Legislative Alert is being sent to you because of the potential gravity of an upcoming NPRM and to encourage you to provide comments as individuals who will be impacted by the proposed changes. The information below can also be seen in AFB's Words from Washington. This is an issue that any and all organizations representing people with disabilities should be concerned about.
On Monday, May 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) formally announced their intention to bar, without exception, Medicare coverage for any device such as closed-circuit television systems (CCTVs), magnifiers, and any other low vision aids or technologies. This will have a devastating impact on the lives of individuals with low vision, and particularly the elderly.
Their proposed Section 414.15 or Low Vision Aid Exclusion basically states that "the eyeglass coverage exclusion encompasses all devices irrespective of their size, form, or technological features that use one or more lens to aid vision or provide magnification of images for impaired vision. This proposed regulatory provision clarifies that the statute does not support the interpretation that the term eyeglasses only applies to lenses supported by frames that pass around the nose and ears. The underlying technology and the function of eyeglasses are to use lenses to assist persons with impaired vision."
ACB as an organization will be submitting formal comments opposing this language, but as mentioned earlier this is a matter of such importance that we encourage individuals to provide comments too. In commenting, please refer to file code CMS-1270-P and put "Low Vision Aid Exclusion" in the title. The most common way comments may be submitted is:
1. Electronically via the website:
2. By regular mail, (one original and two copies) to the following
address:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS-1270-P,
P.O. Box 8013,
Baltimore, MD 21244-8013.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be accepting comments until 5 p.m., June 30, 2006. ACB will keep you updated and informed over the next few weeks on the combined efforts put forth to combat this proposal. If you have any specific questions or concerns regarding this or any legislative matter, please contact me at: dalmohamed@acb.org.
Day Al-Mohamed
Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
American Council of the Blind
1155 15th St. NW
Washington DC 20005
Tel. 202-467-5081
dalmohamed@acb.org