[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 125 (Tuesday, July 22, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H3549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1730
                        VISION BENEFIT MANAGERS

  (Ms. CLARKE of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CLARKE of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge support 
for a crackdown on vision benefit managers, or VBMs, and their 
exploitative industry that exists only to profit from the eyeglass 
frames and lenses they make, the labs they own and operate, and the 
patient data gathering and mass retail operations built around them.
  VBMs not only undermine healthcare access and quality, but threaten 
the existence of independent eye care practices nationwide.
  VBM contracting abuses are already rampant, and their control over 
the independent eye care practice is only growing.
  We cannot turn a blind eye, pun intended, to the serious conflict of 
interest concerns when a plan becomes both a healthcare provider and 
payer.
  We cannot ignore the consequences of this unacceptable status quo, 
which has arbitrarily limited treatment options to those which are 
profitable for the VBM instead of effective for the patient.

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