By Sophie Moon –
Tens of thousands of Montanans wear contact lenses. We buy them at stores, we buy them online, we buy them when we need them and wherever we can get the most bang for our buck. Seems pretty straightforward, right?
Wrong.
Believe it or not, there are actually forces in Washington, D.C., that are working to limit our consumer choices when it comes to contact lenses. In a few weeks, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) bill. Powerful lobbyists in Washington are pushing to add language to this bill that would severely undermine the Federal Trade Commission’s recently proposed update to the Contact Lens Rule.
The Federal Trade Commission’s Contact Lens Rule does a lot to ensure consumer choice and safety. Right now, contact lens patients are required to receive a copy of their prescription free of charge after a contact lens fitting, whether or not the patient asks for it. The result is less market distortion and more competition, leading to more choices and lower prices for Montana’s consumers.