Eye care consumer protection.

2016
State of Wyoming
16LSO-0241
Introduced
1.2

SENATE FILE

NO.

SF0067

Eye care consumer protection.

Sponsored by:
Senator(s) Barnard, Dockstader, Landen and Meier and Representative(s) Harvey and Kasperik

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to consumer protection; creating the Consumer Protection in Eye Care Act; providing definitions; specifying prohibited acts; providing requirements to operate a kiosk; establishing standards as specified; providing for enforcement; providing for rulemaking; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 33
‑
23
‑
118 and 40
‑
12
‑
701 through 40
‑
12
‑
70
7
are created to read:

33
‑
23
‑
118
.

Enforcement.
The board shall enforce the provisions of the Consumer Protection in Eye Care Act
,
W.S.
40
‑
12
‑
701 through 40
‑
12
‑
707
.

ARTICLE 7
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN EYE CARE ACT

40
‑
12
‑
701
.

Short title.

This act may be cited as the "
Wyoming
Consumer Protection in Eye Care Act."

40
‑
12
‑
702
.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this act:

(i)

"Board" means the Wyoming state board of examiners in optometry, created by W.S. 33
‑
23
‑
104;

(ii)

"C
orrective
optical aid
" means any
contact
lens
, eyeglasses or other optical device or instrument

used to correct or enhance vision or for therapeutic purposes
;

(i
ii
)

"Dispense" means
to
furnish
a
corrective

optical aid
to a
person
;

(
i
v)

"Established treatment site" means a location where a
person
seek
s
care
from
a
provider
through a provider

patient relationship
and
which
maintains

sufficient technology and equipment to
permit
an adequate physical evaluation as appropriate for the
person
’s presenting co
mplaint;

(v)

"Eye examination" means a physical assessment of the ocular health and visual status of a p
erson
to establish a medical diagnosis or

to
correct vision disorders but does not include examinations consisting solely
of objective refractive data or information generated by an automated testing dev
ice, including an autorefractor
;

(v
i
)

"In
‑
person evaluation" means
an eye examination
conducted by a provider who is at the same
physical location
as
the
person undergoing the eye examination
;

(vi
i
)

"Kiosk" means automated equipment or
an
application designed to be used on a telephone, computer or Internet

base
d device that can be used
in person or remotely to conduct an eye
examination
;

(viii
)

"Over
‑
the
‑
counter
optical aid
"
means
any
eyeglasses

or other optical
device or
instrument

excluding
contact lenses
that
:

(A)

Are w
orn solely for cosmetic, protective or other noncorrective
, nonenhancement or nontherapeutic
purposes
;

(B)

H
ave
uniform focus power in each lens
;
and

(C)

A
re neither less than +1.00 diopter nor greater than +3.25 diopters in
power
.

(
i
x)

"Prescription" means a
n

order, formula or recipe
issued
in any form of oral, written, electronic or other means of transmission by a provider
based on the results of an
eye examination;

(x)

"Provider" means
a person
licensed
as an optometrist under the
provisions of

W.S. 33
‑
23
‑
101 through 33
‑
23
‑
11
8
or
licensed under
the
Medical Practice Act
, W.S. 33
‑
26
‑
101 et seq.
;

(xi)

"This act" means W.S. 40
‑
12
‑
701 through 40
‑
12
‑
70
7
.

40
‑
12
‑
703
.

Prohibited a
cts.

(a)

No
person
in this state
may
dispense
any
corrective
optical aid
,
other than
an
over
‑
the
‑
counter
optical aid
,
to a
nother
person
without a valid prescription from a provider. A valid prescription for
a

corrective
optical aid
shall
:

(
i
)

C
ontain an expiration date of not less than one
(1)
year from the date of the eye examination by the provider or a statement by the provider of the reasons why a shorter time is appropriate based on
the medical needs of the person issued the prescription
;

(ii)

Take into consideration any medical findings and any refractive error discovered during the eye examination;

(
ii
i
)

No
t be made based solely on information about the
human eye generated by a kiosk;

and

(iv)

Be released by a
provider
pursuant

to W.S. 33
‑
23
‑
101(
d).

40
‑
12
‑
704
.

Kiosk operation; requirements.

(a)

No p
erson
shall operate a kiosk unless:

(i)

The
federal f
ood and
d
rug
a
dministration has approved the intended use of the

kiosk
;

(
ii
)

The procedure for which the kiosk is used has a recognized current procedural terminology code maintained by the American Medical Association;

(iii)

The kiosk

is
designed and operated in a manner that
provides any accommodation required by the

federal
Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990
,
42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.,
as
the

act existed on January 1, 2015;

(
i
v
)

T
he
kiosk and accompanying technology used to collect and transmit information and data, including photographs and scans, compl
y
with the
federal

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,
42 U.S.C. § 300gg
,

29 U.S.C
.
§ 1181

et seq.,
and

42 U
.
S
.
C
.
1320d
et seq
.,

as the act existed on January 1, 2015
;

(
v
)

Diagnostic information and data, including photographs and scans, gathered by the kiosk are read and interpreted by a provider
who shall:

(A)

Establish the identity of the person engaging kiosk services; and

(B)

Ensure that the person engaging kiosk services has previously had at least one (1) in
‑
person evaluation at an established treatment site, provided, however, that an in
‑
person evaluation is not required for new conditions relating to a provider's existing patient unless the provider deems that an in
‑
person evaluation is necessary to provide adequate care for th
at
patient.

(
vi
)

The physical location of the kiosk prominently displays the name and state license number of the provider who will read and interpret the diagnostic information and data, including photographs and scans, produced by the kiosk
;
and

(
vii
)

The owner
, operator
or lessee of the kiosk maintains liability insurance in an amount
established by board rule to cover claims
made by
persons
diagnosed or treated based on information and data, including photographs and scans, generated by the kiosk.

40
‑
12
‑
70
5
.

Standards.

Evaluation, treatment
and consultation recommendations made
using
a kiosk, including

electronically
generated
prescriptions
, shall be held to the same standards of appropriate practice as those
who conduct in
‑
person evaluations
.

40
‑
12
‑
70
6
.

Violations; e
nforcement.

(
a
)

The board shall upon receiving a written sworn complaint, or may upon its own initiative, investigate alleged violations of this act or any rule or regulation of the board and may impose a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) for each separate violation.

(
b
)

At the request of the
board
, the
a
ttorney
g
eneral may file a civil action seeking an injunction or other appropriate relief to enforce th
e provisions of, or rules and regulations promulgated under, this
act.

40
‑
12
‑
70
7
.

Rulemaking.

The
board
, in consultation with the
b
oard of
medicine,
shall
adopt
rules and regulations to administer this act pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act
, W.S. 16
‑
3
‑
101 et seq
.

Section 2
.

W.S.
33
‑
23
‑
101(
a)(ix) and
(e
) is amended to read:

33
‑
23
‑
101
.

Definitions and exceptions.

(a)

As used in this act:

(ix)

"This act" means W.S. 33
‑
23
‑
101 through
33
‑
23
‑
117
33
‑
23
‑
118
.

(e)

The provisions of this chapter do not prohibit the sale of goggles, sunglasses, colored glasses or occupational eye
‑
protective devices if they do not have refractive values, nor do the provisions of this act prohibit the sale of complete ready
‑
to
‑
wear eyeglasses as
merchandise by any person not holding himself out as competent to examine, test or prescribe for the human eye or its refractive errors.
The provisions of this chapter

do not prohibit the sale of
over
‑
the
‑
counter
optical aids
,

as provided in
W.S.
40
‑
12
‑
701 through 40
‑
12
‑
707
.

Section

3
.

This
act is effective July 1,
201
6
.

(END)

1
SF0067