​

OXON HILL, Md.—The National Association of Vision Care Plans (NAVCP) wrapped up three days of meetings here at the MGM National Harbor on Tuesday afternoon after providing attendees with a comprehensive rundown on key health care issues at both the national and state levels, a discussion of blockchain and the possible opportunities it may open for managed care companies, and a report on myopia and the efforts under way to stop and reverse this threat. NAVCP’s 2019 Vision Health Summit comes as the eyecare business finds itself in the midst of rapid change and facing the impact of a variety of outside forces, such as new technologies, NAVCP executive director Julian Roberts said in his address to the membership at Monday’s opening session at the MGM complex just across the Potomac River from Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C.

He said the best way forward for the association and its membership is to “practice engagement” with the other components of vision care and not stay on the sidelines.


NAVCP chairman Lukas Ruecker of EyeMed Vision Care and Julian Roberts, executive director of the association, at this week’s summit.
​
“We might look at the issues from different angles,” he noted. “But at the end of the day, we are all invested in helping people to see better.”

In this effort to foster engagement and collaboration, Roberts noted at the opening session that immediately prior to the start of this 2019 summit, NAVCP convened in-person meetings with eyecare professionals and vision care retailers that make up the association’s provider and retail councils, respectively.

“Managed vision care plans are a major driver of vision health,” Roberts explained. “We created the NAVCP Provider and Retail Councils to foster better understanding between plans and providers by reducing silos and building reciprocal understanding of how we all can improve patient access to affordable, quality vision health," he added.

NAVCP is expected to provide additional details on the work of the councils and their membership during the rest of the year.

At the meeting, NAVCP membership also ratified the board of directors and primary board members, while introducing two newly elected directors. Ratified as continuing members of the board’s steering committee for the 2018-2020 term were NAVCP chairman Lukas Ruecker, president of EyeMed Vision Care, and chairman-elect Kirk Rothrock, chief executive officer of Versant Health. Karen Gustin of Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. continues as immediate past chairwoman, and Kate Renwick Espinosa of VSP Vision Care as secretary of the board.

The newly elected members of NAVCP’s board were Melinda Everley of Fidelity Security Life Insurance Co. and Jason Rome of MESVision Inc.