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Doctors push insurance coverage for children's vision screening and follow-up exams

Joint Committee on Children and Families and Persons with Disabilities · November 18, 2025
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Summary

Ophthalmologists and optometrists backed H280, saying early screening and insurance coverage would catch treatable conditions such as amblyopia and avoid lifelong vision loss for children.

Pediatric eye‑care specialists told the committee that routine vision screening and insurance coverage for follow‑up exams would identify treatable conditions early and prevent lifelong vision impairment. Dr. Angel Xie and Dr. Alex Marajan said amblyopia and common refractive errors are often reversible when detected young.

Dr. Marajan recounted personal experience with undetected vision loss and supported H280's requirement that children receive a vision screening within 12 months before kindergarten and that insurers cover diagnostic exams when a child fails screening or has developmental delays. "Had a system like this been in place when I was a child, my own vision outcome would have been very different," he said.

Witnesses emphasized that early detection is time‑sensitive: the plasticity of visual development declines after age 8–10, and timely coverage for diagnostic exams would reduce financial barriers to care.

The committee accepted testimony and asked for technical clarifications about screening implementation and insurance definitions.