What is it about?
Interventions to correct refractive errors can be performed by medical means and require the skills of registered health care professionals. However, in the United Kingdom and Sweden health care needs associated with refractive errors are not covered or assessed in the public health benefit packages on the same terms as other medical conditions affecting the visual system.
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Why is it important?
Individuals with refractive errors need refractive corrections, and individuals with high degrees of refractive errors need corrections to manage most things in their lives: to perform certain jobs, to carry out everyday tasks and to accomplish various life goals. The health care interventions needed to correct refractive errors, such as spectacles, contact lenses or refractive surgical procedures, are very efficient and have a potential to move individuals from a state of severe visual impairment to a state of perfect visual acuity.
Perspectives
Today, the exclusion of refractive corrections from the basket of goods receiving public coverage in the United Kingdom and Sweden is an apparent inconsistency and the policy must be revised. To improve fairness, publicly funded health care agencies in both countries must start assessing the needs of individuals with refractive errors and prioritise health care interventions associated with them – as would be the case for individuals with other health care needs.
Joakim Färdow
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Why are refractive corrections excluded from the public benefit packages in the UK and in Sweden?, Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, December 2021, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/opo.12926.
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