News release
Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, has announced that Senate Bill 1089 successfully passed out of the state 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 eyeglass 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.
“Unfortunately, the PIA has an abysmal track record in serving Medi-Cal beneficiaries,” read a prepared statement from Wilk’s office. “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,” Wilk said in the statement.” 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.”
SB 1089 will now move to the California State Assembly.
