1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to health; requiring optometrists and 
  1.3             ophthalmologists to give patients copies of their 
  1.4             prescriptions for eyeglasses or contact lenses; 
  1.5             establishing other requirements for access to and the 
  1.6             content of prescriptions for eyeglasses or contact 
  1.7             lenses; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.8             Statutes, chapter 145. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  [145.711] [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [APPLICATION.] For purposes of sections 
  1.12  145.711 to 145.714, the following definitions apply. 
  1.13     Subd. 2.  [DISPENSING.] "Dispensing" means the retail 
  1.14  delivery of ophthalmic goods to a patient by an optometrist, 
  1.15  ophthalmologist, or optician. 
  1.16     Subd. 3.  [EYE EXAMINATION.] "Eye examination" means a 
  1.17  testing process administered by an optometrist or 
  1.18  ophthalmologist that includes a determination of the refractive 
  1.19  condition of a patient's eyes and, if requested by the patient, 
  1.20  includes a determination of the appropriateness of contact 
  1.21  lenses for the patient. 
  1.22     Subd. 4.  [FITTING.] "Fitting" means the performance of 
  1.23  mechanical procedures and measurements necessary to adapt and 
  1.24  fit eyeglasses or contact lenses from a written prescription.  
  1.25  In the case of contact lenses, fitting also includes the 
  1.26  selection of the physical characteristics of the lenses, 
  1.27  including conversion of spectacle power to contact lens 
  2.1   equivalents, lens design, material selection, and manufacture of 
  2.2   the lenses; and supervision of the trial wearing of the contact 
  2.3   lenses, which may require incidental revisions during the trial 
  2.4   period. 
  2.5      Subd. 5.  [OPHTHALMIC GOODS.] "Ophthalmic goods" means 
  2.6   eyeglasses, one or more eyeglass components, or contact lenses. 
  2.7      Subd. 6.  [OPHTHALMIC SERVICES.] "Ophthalmic services" 
  2.8   means the measuring, fitting, adjusting, and fabricating of 
  2.9   ophthalmic goods after an eye examination. 
  2.10     Subd. 7.  [PATIENT.] "Patient" means a person who has had 
  2.11  an eye examination. 
  2.12     Subd. 8.  [PRESCRIPTION.] "Prescription" means a written 
  2.13  directive from an optometrist or ophthalmologist for eyeglasses 
  2.14  or contact lenses that specifies the refractive powers of the 
  2.15  lenses. 
  2.16     Sec. 2.  [145.712] [REQUIREMENTS FOR EYEGLASS AND CONTACT 
  2.17  LENS PRESCRIPTIONS.] 
  2.18     Subdivision 1.  [COPY OF PRESCRIPTION.] An optometrist or 
  2.19  ophthalmologist must provide a patient with a copy of the 
  2.20  patient's prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses upon 
  2.21  completion of the patient's eye examination.  An optometrist or 
  2.22  ophthalmologist may refuse to give a patient a copy of the 
  2.23  patient's prescription until after the patient has paid for the 
  2.24  eye examination, but only if the optometrist or ophthalmologist 
  2.25  would have required immediate payment from that patient if the 
  2.26  examination had revealed that no ophthalmic goods were required. 
  2.27     Subd. 2.  [REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTACT LENS 
  2.28  PRESCRIPTIONS.] For a prescription for contact lenses to be 
  2.29  valid, the prescription must be in writing and must include the 
  2.30  notation "OK for contact lenses" or similar language indicating 
  2.31  that there are no contraindications for contact lenses.  An 
  2.32  optometrist or ophthalmologist must include the notation "OK for 
  2.33  contact lenses" or similar language on a patient's prescription 
  2.34  if the optometrist or ophthalmologist would be willing to fit 
  2.35  the patient, there are no contraindications for contact lenses, 
  2.36  and the patient has requested contact lenses. 
  3.1      Subd. 3.  [PRESCRIPTION EXPIRATION DATE.] A prescription 
  3.2   written by an optometrist or ophthalmologist must expire not 
  3.3   more than two years after it is written, unless a prescription 
  3.4   for a longer period is warranted by the patient's ocular 
  3.5   health.  If the prescription is valid for less than two years, 
  3.6   the optometrist or ophthalmologist must note the reason for the 
  3.7   prescription's expiration date in the patient's record and must 
  3.8   orally explain to the patient at the time of the eye examination 
  3.9   the reason for the prescription's expiration date. 
  3.10     Sec. 3.  [145.713] [OPTOMETRIST AND OPHTHALMOLOGIST 
  3.11  PRACTICES.] 
  3.12     Subdivision 1.  [PROHIBITED CONDITIONS.] No optometrist or 
  3.13  ophthalmologist may: 
  3.14     (1) condition the availability of an eye examination or the 
  3.15  release of a prescription to a patient on a requirement that the 
  3.16  patient agree to purchase ophthalmic goods from the optometrist 
  3.17  or ophthalmologist who performed the eye examination or from 
  3.18  another specified optometrist or ophthalmologist; or 
  3.19     (2) charge a patient a fee in addition to the optometrist's 
  3.20  or ophthalmologist's examination fee as a condition of releasing 
  3.21  the prescription to the patient.  An optometrist or 
  3.22  ophthalmologist may charge a reasonable additional fee for 
  3.23  verifying ophthalmic goods dispensed by another practitioner if 
  3.24  that fee is imposed at the time the verification is performed. 
  3.25     Subd. 2.  [CONTRAINDICATIONS FOR CONTACT LENSES.] If an 
  3.26  optometrist or ophthalmologist determines that a patient's 
  3.27  ocular health presents a contraindication for contact lenses, 
  3.28  the optometrist or ophthalmologist must orally inform the 
  3.29  patient of the contraindication and must document the 
  3.30  contraindication in the patient's records.  An optometrist or 
  3.31  ophthalmologist may exclude categories of contact lenses where 
  3.32  clinically indicated. 
  3.33     Subd. 3.  [REQUIREMENTS FOR FITTING AND FOLLOW-UP FOR 
  3.34  CONTACT LENSES.] (a) The initial fitting and follow-up for 
  3.35  contact lenses must be completed within six months of the date 
  3.36  of the eye examination, and the optometrist or ophthalmologist 
  4.1   writing the prescription for contact lenses must so notify the 
  4.2   patient.  A patient who obtains an initial fitting and follow-up 
  4.3   within this time period may obtain replacement contact lenses 
  4.4   until the expiration date of the prescription.  If the initial 
  4.5   fitting and follow-up are not completed within this time period, 
  4.6   the prescription may not be filled for contact lenses. 
  4.7      (b) The optometrist or ophthalmologist who performs the 
  4.8   follow-up for contact lenses must place on the prescription 
  4.9   "follow-up completed" or similar language, the optometrist's or 
  4.10  ophthalmologist's name, and the date of the follow-up. 
  4.11     (c) The optometrist or ophthalmologist who performs the 
  4.12  initial fitting and follow-up for contact lenses may engage in 
  4.13  incidental revisions of the physical characteristics of the 
  4.14  contact lenses prescribed.  The incidental revisions may not 
  4.15  alter the effect of the written prescription. 
  4.16     Subd. 4.  [WAIVERS OF LIABILITY PROHIBITED.] No optometrist 
  4.17  or ophthalmologist may place on a patient's prescription, 
  4.18  require a patient to sign, or deliver to a patient a form or 
  4.19  notice waiving liability or responsibility for the accuracy of 
  4.20  the eye examination or the accuracy of the ophthalmic goods and 
  4.21  services dispensed by another practitioner.  Prohibiting waivers 
  4.22  of liability under this subdivision does not impose liability on 
  4.23  an optometrist or ophthalmologist for the ophthalmic goods or 
  4.24  ophthalmic services dispensed by another practitioner pursuant 
  4.25  to the optometrist's or ophthalmologist's prescription. 
  4.26     Sec. 4.  [145.714] [DUPLICATE EYEGLASS LENSES EXEMPTION.] 
  4.27     Sections 145.712 and 145.713 do not prohibit an optometrist 
  4.28  or ophthalmologist from measuring the refractive power of 
  4.29  eyeglass lenses and duplicating the eyeglass lenses at the 
  4.30  request of a patient.