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Senator Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) announces that Senate Bill 1089 (SB 1089) has successfully passed out of the Senate Floor. The bill permits eye care professionals who participate in Medi-Cal to obtain eyeglasses for Medi-Cal beneficiaries from private suppliers based on an assessment of patient need and eyeglasses quality.
“Bureaucratic red tape has needlessly prevented eye care professionals from serving their Medi-Cal patients in a way that those patients expect and deserve. In choosing eyeglasses, providers should make decisions based only on patient well-being," said Wilk.
Existing law stipulates that individuals on Medi-Cal must receive eyeglasses produced by the California Prison Industry Authority (PIA). Unfortunately, the PIA has an abysmal track record in serving Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Many Medi-Cal beneficiaries have received poor quality frames or incorrectly prescribed lenses, and many patients are forced to wait for months to receive their glasses.
“SB 1089 doesn’t prevent a provider from using the PIA to obtain eyeglasses; it simply gives that provider more options in seeking out the best eye-care solution for their Medi-Cal patients. This bill is a no-brainer – prioritizing patients and their individual situations should not be controversial, and I am glad that my Senate Colleagues overwhelmingly agreed," concluded Wilk.
SB 1089 will now move to the California State Assembly.