The American Medical Association (AMA) officially adopted a new resolution earlier this summer supporting the formal classification of myopia as a disease.
While the move was made back in June, it’s back in the headlines following a release issued by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) last week.
First, let’s get a look at the current prevalence of myopia.
In a single sentence: There’s a rising global public health crisis.
Case in point: The World Health Organization (WHO) has projected that, by the year 2050, nearly 50% of the world’s population will have myopia—and up to one-fifth of that number will be at an increased risk for blindness due to complications of high myopia.
Closer to home: The National Eye Institute (NEI) reports that the number of Americans with myopia has nearly doubled over the last 50 years (to nearly 42% of the nation’s population).
And the insurance coverage for this?
To put it plainly: While myopia correction is covered by insurance plans, a treatment to slow myopia progression is (largely) not.
Vision plans generally provide reimbursement based on a patient’s refractive necessity (not the disease itself) by paying an allowance toward an exam and materials—meaning current management treatment options such as compounded forms of low-dose atropine or orthokeratology (ortho-k) lenses are not covered (or only partially covered).
Also worth considering: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to myopia management.
- “Insurance must recognize myopia as a disease so that coverage can include long-term treatment and lifelong coverage,” emphasized a 2025 narrative review published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.
So what actions have been taken to address the issue?
The AAO actually created the Task Force on Myopia back in 2019 “in recognition of the substantial global increases in myopia prevalence and its associated complications.
This was referred to as the first effort to coordinate a global health initiative to spread education and foster collaboration to improve treatments.
And in a 2021 white paper highlighting the task force, the AAO noted:
- “Myopia is a high-priority cause of visual impairment, warranting a timely evaluation and synthesis of the scientific literature and formulation of an action plan to address the issue from different perspectives.”
Other initiatives include The Myopia Collective launched by CooperVision and the American Optometric Association in 2024, Myopia Profile and its artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant for disease management, as well as (across the pond) the United Kingdom-based Myopia Focus.
How about from the treatment side of this?
Numerous approaches in recent years have sought to treat and manage myopic progression.
Most notably: EssilorLuxottica’s Essilor Stellest Eyeglasses, which the FDA authorized for marketing in September 2025 as the first eyeglass lenses to slow pediatric myopia progression.
And earlier this summer: The FDA formed an advisory committee to review Sydnexis’s low-dose atropine drop for the potential treatment of pediatric progressive myopia.
See here for more clinical research in the myopia management pipeline.
Now talk about the AMA’s formal classification.
During the AMA’s annual meeting in June, the House of Delegates adopted a new resolution that supports comprehensive insurance coverage and reimbursement for evidence-based treatments demonstrated to slow myopia progression in pediatric and adolescent patients.”
- To be clear: This adoption is symbolic of a policy action—not any actual regulatory approval.
And take note: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has not yet officially reclassified myopia as a disease.
Got it. So what do we know about this adopted resolution?
Resolution 411 essentially supports the classification of myopia as a disease, public health advocacy efforts, and treatment coverage.
More specifically, the AMA:
- Recognizes myopia as a “significant and increasing public health concern” warranting public health outreach, improved screening in children, and prevention efforts
- Will advocate for public education about the risks of progressive myopia and availability of evidence-based interventions shown to slow myopia progression
- Supports efforts to formally classify myopia as a disease (such as those by the Centers for Medicaid Services [CMS]) to ensure patients can receive appropriate treatment and insurance coverage
- Supports efforts to ensure comprehensive insurance coverage and reimbursement for evidence-based treatment demonstrated to slow myopia progression in pediatric and adolescent patients
See page 13 for the exact verbiage of this resolution.
Focus on this reclassification component—what would that mean?
A formal disease classification would basically reframe myopia as a progressive medical condition capable of being diagnosed, monitored, and treated.
In practice: This could enable the establishment of clearer treatment guidelines, screening programs, and increased access to myopia management for patients.
Importantly, though: The reclassification wouldn’t necessarily require insurance providers to offer automatic and full coverage for each treatment, as they generally vary by plan and medical necessity.
So in actual practice?
While the AMA’s policy action is paramount it doesn’t actually translate to regulatory changes.
In order for that to happen, the CMS would need to step in and take action—which it has yet to do.
And in the meantime?
Advocacy efforts will continue across the country to ensure action and progress are made toward “turning a slow-moving epidemic into a national priority” the AAO stated.
Chief among these: H.R. 2527—the Early Detection of Vision Impairments for Children Act.
- See here for a rundown on what has the potential to become the “first national program addressing children’s vision and eye health.”