(WAVE/WKYT) – Kentucky lawmakers have moved the state’s optometry testing standards back in line with the rest of the country, approving a regulation that requires new optometrists to pass the three-part national exam.
However, questions remain about eye doctors already licensed under alternative testing pathways.
New rules take effect, but existing licenses stand
Starting Saturday July 18, all new optometrists in Kentucky must pass the three national exams administered by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO). Doctors who were previously allowed to take alternative tests will still be permitted to practice.
State Rep. Kimberly Moser, R-Taylor Mill, said the change brings the state’s standards back to the established norm.
“I believe the regulation should remain focused on the traditional licensure examination pathway,” Moser said.
Kristen Webb Hill, general counsel for the Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners (KBOE), confirmed that previously approved alternative pathways remain valid for those who used them.
“The alternative paths that were approved through regulation previously, those people can still renew with those alternative paths,” Webb Hill said.
More waivers granted than previously known
The NBEO said in a three-page statement that it appears 15 eye doctors will be practicing in Kentucky under these alternative tests. The Kentucky board also revealed that 34 waivers were granted in total — more than had been previously disclosed — and that 11 eye doctors are still working on passing their exams.
NBEO’s statement called on Kentucky to require all its eye doctors to pass the national exams, saying that right now, a Kentucky license is not proof that a Kentucky optometrist is competent.
Identifying affected doctors remains unresolved
There is currently no simple way for the public to identify which eye doctors were granted licenses through alternative tests. When the board president was asked whether the state would identify those doctors in its license search, she said they would consider it.