"Rex B" wrote in message
...
||Absolutely. This is on a tangent from the original thread, but such a
good
||example of the above. A federal law was passed last year called,"The
||Fairness to Lens Consumers Act." The main point of the law, from
||the_government's_angle, was to allow contact lens wearers to be able to
get
||their prescription numbers from their optometrist and take them anywhere
||else,(cheaper), to get their lenses made. The same thing that eyeglass
||wearers have been able to do since 1976. But the fine print of the act
says
||that it is now against the law for any optometrist or lens seller,
(i.e.,
||Pearle Vision, Lenscrafters, etc.), to grind an eyeglass lens or make a
||contact from a prescription that is more than 2 years old. Almost all
||people my age, 54, don't need any step changes in their prescriptions
for
||many, many years. The eyes of most people who require corrective
lenses
||stop changing, or slow way down, after about age 18. Rep. Richard Burr,
R.,
||NC, along with the American Optometric Assc. got that paragraph put in
||there. ( The maggot is from my home state, too). All four people in my
||household require corrective lenses. Got two boys in college whose eyes
||have passed the rapidly changing period. I'm trying to cut corners
every
||way possible to make it financially and now this gets strapped on to me
by
||the government. All you guys that break a lens in the shop, you can
forget
||just going to get another one made if your prescription is more than two
||years old. Even if you know the prescription is still fine. You're
going
||to have to pay ~$100 more for an eye exam. That you don't need. I'm
quite
||sure I'm capable of determining when my eyeglass prescription needs
||changing, as is anyone else reading this. It's a real money maker for
||optometrists. I'm writing my congressman, for all the good it will do.
By
||the way, the PAC for the American Optometric Assc._really_passed out
some
||money in 2003. Okay. Rant off.
I had a running email discussion last month with the CS rep from the
online
contacts place I've been using. Until the most recent order, they did not
require a current prescription. Last time I reordered they wanted a
prescription, even providing an online list to "Select your eyecare
provider by
Zip code". So I did that, even though I never had used the local shop.
They
actually called them, and of course they didn't know me from Adam 
So the last message I sent them said "Look, if I had a current
prescription I
could go to any number of local places and buy my lenses for less than
what you
charge. I trade with you because I have not (until now) had to spend
$100/year
for a piece of paper that said, in effect "Yours eyes are unchanged from
last
time"".
Next email from them "Your order has been shipped.
I had them double the order.
Texas Parts Guy
I've got to fly up to St. Louis and drive back next week. I'm going to stop
and see an old bud from High School back in Indiana who's now an
optometrist. I want the straight skinny on this law, and how much it's
being enforced.
Garrett
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