New regs for Thursday: Eye doctors, housing, truck drivers

Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules for eye doctors when prescribing eyeglasses and contact lenses, housing rules, and exemptions for truck drivers with poor vision.

Here’s what is happening:

Contact lenses: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is considering changes to a contact lens rule for eye doctors as part of a regulatory review.

{mosads}Currently, eye doctors are required to provide a copy of patients’ prescriptions after their exam. This allows customers to shop around for the best price before they buy contacts.

To protect patients’ health, eye doctors can only sell contacts after they have conducted an eye exam or verified the prescription from another eye doctor.

“The contact lens rule is intended to facilitate the ability of consumers to comparison shop for contact lenses while ensuring that contact lenses are sold only in accordance with a valid prescription,” the agency wrote.

The public has until Oct. 26 to comment.

Eyeglasses: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also considering changes to an eyeglass rule as part of a regulatory review.

Similar to the rules for contact lenses, eye doctors are required to release patients’ eyeglass prescriptions so they can shop for the best price before purchasing glasses. 

At the time the rule was originally issued, in the 1970s, the FTC found “many consumers were being deterred from comparison shopping for eyeglasses because eye care practitioners refused to release prescriptions, even upon a patient’s request, or charged an additional fee for release of a prescription.”

The public has until Oct. 26 to comment.

Housing: The Federal Housing Finance Agency is moving forward with new housing rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The housing rules establish new goals and benchmarks for affordable, low-income housing from 2015 through 2017.

The rules go into effect in 30 days.

Trucks: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is loosening the regulations for truck drivers who suffer from poor vision and, in many cases, are partially blind.

The FMCSA announced Wednesday it is renewing exemptions for 13 truck drivers with poor vision to allow them to continue driving. The agency said the decision “will not compromise safety.”

The exemptions are effective Sept. 23.