Nearly 600 doctors of optometry, optometry students, and affiliate leaders from across the United States gathered in the nation’s capital for AOA on Capitol Hill 2025, the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) largest annual advocacy event, according to a press release. The 3-day, fly-in event featured more than 280 in-person meetings with lawmakers and congressional staff to deliver a coordinated message: protect access to essential eye health and vision care.

Specifically, the press release outlined, the AOA advocates called for congressional action on several key issues that affect patient care and the profession, including:

• the Dental and Optometric Care Access Act and the Vision Lab Choice Act, which are designed to curb harmful vision benefit manager practices that increase costs, restrict patient choice, and disrupt the doctor-patient relationship.
• medicare reform for a permanent fix to the reimbursement formula that address chronic underpayment.
• improved access to vision services for veterans.
• updated federal safety regulations for contact lens sales.

AOA leaders also engaged with senior presidential staff at the White House to highlight the essential role of optometry in the US health care system and to emphasize the need to remove barriers to comprehensive eye care.

This year marked the largest student turnout in the event’s history with more than 230 optometry students, and the AOA acknowledged the contributions of its 2025 advocacy partners, including CooperVision, Vision Source, InMode, the Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety, Barti, and Vision HQ. OM