[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S247-S248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         VISION REHABILITATION

  Mr. BROWN. I rise today to recognize the importance of vision 
rehabilitation services for vision-impaired Americans.
  There are more than 25 million Americans who have trouble seeing--
even when aided by glasses or contact lenses. Over 1 million are 
legally blind and over 3 million have low vision or partial sight.
  This disability strikes Americans from all walks of life: the young 
and old, the poor and rich, urbanites and rural-dwellers.
  Among Ohioans over the age of 40, there are more than 40,000 blind 
people, more than 90,000 suffering from age-related macular 
degeneration, more than 170,000 suffering from diabetic retinopathy, 
and nearly 100,000 with glaucoma.
  Vision rehabilitation services help vision-impaired Americans restore 
function and live independent lives.
  Whether it is learning to read Braille or use assistive computer 
technology, travel safely or take care of the home, meet career 
objectives or enjoy leisure activities, vision rehabilitation services 
help vision-impaired people cope with and overcome their disability.
  These critical services are provided by occupational therapists--who 
can earn a specialty certificate in low vision--and vision 
rehabilitation professionals--who include low vision therapists, 
orientation and mobility specialists, and vision rehabilitation 
therapists.
  These health care providers are uniquely qualified to serve the 
vision-impaired and have made a profound difference in millions of 
lives.
  Take, for example, Laurine, an 84-year-old from the Cleveland area in 
my State of Ohio.
  Laurine went blind 5 years ago due to macular degeneration. After 
decades of living independently, Laurine suddenly needed help with 
basic activities of daily living and had to go into an assisted living 
facility.
  Laurine wanted to regain her independence, so she took advantage of 
services from the Cleveland Sight Center, a nonprofit organization 
providing vision rehabilitation.
  She had orientation and mobility training, and relied on Susie Meles, 
a vision rehabilitation specialist, to learn how to cook her own meals, 
do her laundry, and even sew.
  Today, Laurine is living happily and independently in Strongsville, 
OH.
  There is also the story of Nicole, a 32-year-old from Ohio.
  Nicole has been totally blind since she was 2 years old.
  Like Laurine, she came to rely on the orientation and mobility 
specialists and vision rehabilitation therapists at the Cleveland Sight 
Center for help learning how to travel to school and later to work, how 
to read Braille, and how to use special computer software and adaptive 
aids.
  Today, Nicole is a self-employed music therapist living with her 
husband in South Euclid, OH.
  These are two of the many success stories produced every year at the 
Cleveland Sight Center.
  However, the work of the Cleveland Sight Center and other vision 
rehabilitation organizations across the country is hindered by a lack 
of reliable funding.
  Clients are often unable to pay for the services themselves. And 
while some disability and workers' compensation insurance policies 
cover the costs, very few health insurance policies do.
  Public insurers like Medicare and Medicaid do not reimburse for 
vision rehabilitation services when they are performed by a vision 
rehabilitation specialist, despite the fact that they are accredited by 
the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education 
Professionals, a national body.
  Medicare is currently testing a low-vision demonstration project in 
four States and two cities that allows vision rehabilitation 
professionals to be reimbursed for their services when supervised by a 
physician.
  I am hopeful that this demo will illuminate the importance of making 
vision rehabilitation services--and the diagnostic evaluations by 
optometrists and ophthalmologists that prompt it--a guaranteed Medicare 
benefit.
  I am also supportive of including vision rehabilitation services in 
the health plans that will be offered in the new exchange set up by the 
health reform bill.
  These are long-term goals. As an original member of the Congressional

[[Page S248]]

Vision Caucus, I realize that we will not achieve all of these 
objectives overnight. But I know supporting the work of vision 
rehabilitation practitioners and providers like the Cleveland Sight 
Center is the right thing to do. And I am confident that we will 
succeed.

                          ____________________