NAROC’s Government Relations and Telehealth Committees, together with focused project work, form the backbone of the Association’s advocacy efforts. Each program area advances NAROC’s visibility and mission while equipping members, legislators, and regulators with critical information and decision-making tools. Together, they create opportunities to strengthen the reputation of both NAROC and the optical retail sector, and to protect the progress made over the last several decades.
NAROC was incorporated in 1959 as the National Association of Optometrists & Opticians, Inc. (NAOO). Its founders established an organizational structure dedicated to promoting regular, high-quality, and convenient eye care across all segments of the industry, in an environment free from unnecessary regulation.
NAROC tracks, reviews, and provides updates on relevant legislative and regulatory issues across the fast-moving state and federal landscape, with the frequency of updates adjusting to the pace of active legislative sessions.
Information is also shared on an as-needed basis, as well as during NAROC’s semi-annual meetings (in-person or virtual) held each spring and fall.
When members decide to engage on a given issue, NAROC files letters of support or opposition, making the Association a visible and active participant in the regulatory process for the retail optical sector.
Over the last several years, NAROC has coordinated significant efforts on business relationships between optical firms and optometrists and on progressive, appropriately regulated approaches to telemedicine. NAROC also has been actively engaged on opticianry regulation nationwide—supporting the profession through voluntary certification and license portability where state law already requires it, while opposing new mandatory government licensure or registration schemes that would impose significant costs and barriers without corresponding benefit to patient care. Work in all of these areas remains ongoing.
Recent Actions
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The Association has a long history of undertaking projects for the benefit of the industry, consumers, and members. Many are industry-wide and involve coordination across the industry.
Some examples of previous and ongoing projects include:
- FTC Engagement. From 2015 to 2020, NAROC met with the Federal Trade Commission and submitted comments as part of the FTC’s review of both the Eyeglass Rule and Contact Lens Rule and participated as panelists at the Contact Lens Rule workshop to encourage the Rule’s continuance and flexibility in future regulation. NAROC continues to correspond regularly with the FTC”s Office of Policy Planning on ophthalmic industry issues affecting both industry participants and consumers, including recent engagement on state licensure and regulatory proposals raising healthcare competition concerns.
- Opticianry Regulation and Mobility. NAROC is engaged in a wide-ranging, multi-state opticianry project aimed at expanding mobility for licensed and certified opticians, modernizing outdated aspects of opticianry regulation, and ensuring that new regulatory proposals reflect how opticians actually train and practice. This includes active engagement in states currently considering new licensure, registration, or certification frameworks, where NAROC advocates for approaches—such as voluntary certification—that support the profession without imposing unnecessary costs or barriers to entry. NAROC also seeks to expand training and testing opportunities for prospective opticians pursuing certification or licensure.
- Ocular Telehealth Standards. NAROC’s Telehealth Committee, in collaboration with the Optometrist Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors, maintains and regularly updates the Association’s Ocular Telehealth General Principles—a comprehensive framework advocating for optometrists’ independent professional judgment in determining whether and when telehealth modalities are appropriate for a given patient. NAROC engages with state boards and regulators considering telehealth rules to encourage standards that reflect these principles, and coordinates with stakeholders within and outside the optical industry on emerging telehealth policy.
- State Legislative and Regulatory Monitoring. NAROC tracks and engages on state legislative and regulatory developments nationwide, filing formal comments and letters of support or opposition on issues ranging from corporate practice restrictions to contact lens verification rules to teleoptometry standards, ensuring the retail optical sector’s perspective is represented before regulators and legislators.
The Association continually reviews the state of regulation across the country and undertakes proactive projects to clarify, modernize, or oppose unclear or unfair regulation as needed.