James Comer is Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. | https://oversight.house.gov/chairman-james-comer/
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer has requested briefings from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the consolidation in the vision care market. Comer is seeking information about how reduced competition may be increasing costs and limiting choices for consumers.
In letters to both agencies, Comer stated, “The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is continuing its oversight of the impacts of consolidation within the vision care market and its harm to the U.S consumer. Increasing concentration among vision insurance administrators threatens competition and is driving higher costs and fewer choices for patients.” He added, “The consolidation in the vision care market is enabling Vision Benefit Managers (VBMs) to exercise excessive market power at the expense of patients and plan sponsors. VBMs have vertically integrated to own, operate, or maintain exclusive affiliations with eyeglass and lens manufacturers, optical laboratories, and retail providers, giving them substantial control over the vision care supply chain.”
Reports indicate that two companies hold 85 percent of the stand-alone vision insurance plan market share. In 42 states, one company has at least a plurality of this market; in 28 states, a single company controls more than three-quarters of it. Comer previously began an investigation into FTC regulation of this sector in August 2023. In November 2024, he also requested documents from DOJ to assess how consolidation among insurers—and their integration with manufacturers and retailers—affects patients.
Comer drew parallels between Vision Benefit Managers (VBMs) and Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), referencing earlier committee findings: “Such continued consolidation of the vision care market by VBMs mimic similar anticompetitive patterns identified by the Committee in its investigation of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). That investigation found that PBMs leveraged their intermediary role and vertical integration to steer patients toward affiliated entities, eliminate competition, increase patient costs, and exploit market cloudiness to avoid oversight. Similar practices may be occurring within the VBM industry to the detriment of patients. To help the Committee understand the impacts on consumers of consolidation and vertical integration among vision insurance plans, please make arrangements to schedule a briefing with Committee staff on this matter as soon as possible,” he wrote.
