On March 1, the CLHIA responded to an Alberta Health Services (AHS) consultation on a proposal from the Alberta College of Optometrists to expand the scope of practice to include some procedures currently allowed within the ophthalmology scope only. The CLHIA emphasized that allowing optometrists to deliver certain surgical, laser and other procedures that can be delivered in the office of the optometrist would result in these services being defunded from the AHS, as optometrists’ are not covered by the public plan. The CLHIA advised the AHS that private plans would be unlikely to cover these types of services under the vision care benefit, as this is typically reserved for lenses and frames. Therefore, these services would need to be paid by Albertans themselves.