Creating Consumer Choice for Contact Lenses

Testimony of Maria Martinez

September 9, 2003

Thank you Chairman and Committee members, it is an honor to testify before you today.

My name is Maria Martinez from Austin, Texas and I have been a contact lens wearer for 21 years. I have endured firsthand, the effects of the lack of competition within the contact lens market. I paid up to $300.00 for a set of contact lenses. This frequently mandated how often I replaced my lenses. My purchases were often dictated by my ability to pay.

While interviewing other lens wearers recently on their experiences, I found that individuals were denied the ability to obtain their prescription. Some were stalled until their prescription expired, others felt they were treated deceptively. Individuals were forced to give up and ultimately paid the higher price from the eye-care professional rather than from an alternative provider. One individual asked for their contact lens prescription and received instead an eye glass prescription. Unfortunately, this individual had always been a contact lens wearer and had never received a examination for eyeglasses.

I would urge this Committee to support H.R. 2221 and promote competition in the contact lens market – treating contact lens prescriptions equal to that of eye glasses.