OPW News Alerts and Links
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- Student Loan Regulations Finalized—AOA Secures Optometry’s Inclusion - 6/4/26
- 6 AOA Advocacy Wins in 2025 That Set the Stage for 2026 - 2/4/26
- AOA Advocacy Has Restored More Than $12M In Reimbursements To Optometrists Since 2024 - 1/21/26
- Salaries For VA Optometrists Now On Par With Physicians - 1/16/26
- VA Optometrists Achieve Pay Parity - 1/8/26
Additional sources for optometry news and updates:
Student Loan Regulations Finalized—AOA Secures Optometry’s Inclusion
New U.S. Department of Education federal student loan regulations are now final—reflecting a hard-fought AOA advocacy win ensuring optometry is recognized as a professional program, an outcome not extended to all health disciplines.
Effective July 1, 2026, the rules establish updated borrowing limits for graduate and professional students. Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) students qualify for the higher professional loan caps, strengthening the financial pathway into the profession.
- Professional students (including optometry): $50,000 annual / $200,000 aggregate
- Graduate students (including some health disciplines): $20,500 annual / $100,000 aggregate
This distinction reinforces optometry’s standing in federal policy and supports the pipeline of future doctors delivering care in communities nationwide.
AOA will continue advancing policies that recognize optometry’s role in healthcare and protect students’ access to the resources they need.
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6 AOA Advocacy Wins in 2025 That Set the Stage for 2026
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AOA Advocacy Has Restored More Than $12M In Reimbursements To Optometrists Since 2024
Invision (1/19) carried a press release from the American Optometric Association announcing that “ongoing, direct advocacy by AOA, affiliates and the strong network of AOA’s Third Party Center volunteer doctors restored more than $12.1 million in reimbursement payments to thousands of AOA and affiliate members since 2024.” According to the release, “The Third Party Center Committee, chaired by Steven Eiss, O.D., has worked tirelessly to ensure that time-intensive records requests, inappropriate denials, Medicare Risk Adjustment audits and downcoding delays were adequately compensated or halted, with a total of over more than $4.6 million restored during the last six months.” AOA President Jacquie M. Bowen, OD, said, “We are committed to doing all we can to support our member practices, help them thrive and break down any barriers to care. Uncompensated and undercompensated care doesn’t just hurt optometrists’ financial sustainability. It drives up the cost of care and lowers accessibility for those who need it most.”
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Salaries For VA Optometrists Now On Par With Physicians
Healio (1/15, Cooper) reports that a press release from the American Optometric Association states that “optometrists in the Department of Veterans Affairs, as of this year, are paid on par with physicians – between $124,308 and $182,324.” The pay increase is due to “the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, signed into law last year by former President Joe Biden.” According to AOA, “VA optometrists had been left out of 2 decades of legislation to raise salaries to make them more competitive with the private sector. Their pay has remained ‘far below that of the private sector in many regions,’ leading to vacancies at VA facilities, while more than a fifth of its optometry workforce is at or near retirement, according to the release.” The pay raise was a result of governmental advocacy by AOA and the Association of Armed Forces and Federal Optometric Services (AFOS).
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VA Optometrists Achieve Pay Parity
An executive order published in late December 2025 sets the base and longevity pay schedule for optometrists on par with physicians’ rates. This comes after the VA, in October, published new regulations implementing physician-level recognition for VA doctors of optometry, a major win for the profession.
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