EXCLUSIVE — Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are launching an investigation into anticompetitive practices in the vision insurance benefits market.
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, sent a letter on Monday, obtained by the Washington Examiner, to VSP Vision Care requesting a briefing about the company’s vertical integration practices, which critics argue pressure independent optometrist offices out of the market.
VSP is the largest vision insurance provider in the United States, covering over two-thirds of the vision insurance market with about 82 million enrollees. In 21 states, VSP has more than 80% of the market share.
“By consolidating market power and engaging in potentially anticompetitive conduct, VBMs may be harming patients as diminished competition can lead to higher prices, fewer alternatives, and limited access to independent providers,” Fitzgerald wrote on Monday.
The letter marks an escalation in the House’s investigation into the vision insurance market, in which each insurer typically owns, operates, and partners with downstream providers such as lens and frame manufacturers, optical labs, software vendors, and optometric practices.
VSP, in particular, has been accused of so-called “tying in” or “bundling” practices, only allowing optometrists to be in-network if they are willing to contract exclusively with approved vendors.
“These vertical relationships can create an incentive to self-preference, steer, bundle, and tie products and services, such as requiring optometrists to favor products and services offered by the VBM and its affiliates,” Fitzgerald wrote.
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In August 2024, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to then-Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan regarding alleged anticompetitive practices among vision benefits managers. Comer sent a subsequent letter in November 2024 to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to open an investigation into large vision insurers.
VSP was sued in 2023 by the California-based optometry practice Total Vision. The plaintiffs alleged that VSP required them to purchase large quantities of frames and lenses from VSP supplies.
VSP settled the lawsuit with Total Vision this summer, but the incident is still highlighted as a prime example of the vertical integration within the vision insurance market.
Fitzgerald’s letter cites the lawsuit complaint’s main critique that VSP’s “ubiquity in the vision insurance market makes it a ‘must have’ for [optometry] practices, which must be ‘in-network’ with VSP or else be unable to meaningfully compete in the independent optometry market.”
Fitzgerald’s letter comes three months after the American Optometric Association sent a cease and desist letter to VSP over its history of allegedly anticompetitive practices.
Dr. Steven Reed, president of the AOA, wrote in a press release in June about the cease and desist letter that VSP’s model “sets up a downward spiral that ends badly for all involved.”
Fitzgerald requested that VSP provide a briefing to committee staff on the company’s practices, “including its bundling or tying of products and services and any requirements it imposes on independent optometrists to remain in its network.”
The subcommittee chairman requested that the meeting be scheduled no later than Sept. 29.
VSP did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
