HBA-CCH H.B. 1877 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1877 By: Gray Public Health 2/25/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Texas Contact Lens Prescription Act (Act) provides consumers with direct access to their contact lens prescriptions. However, some consumers are still encountering difficulty in accessing their contact lens prescriptions and getting their prescriptions filled by outside dispensers. House Bill 1877 clarifies the Act by requiring a physician, optometrist, or therapeutic optometrist to release a patient's contact lens prescription at the time of an exam, and to verify prescriptions to those who hold a contact lens dispenser permit. The bill also increases the standard minimum expiration length for contact lens prescriptions. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1877 amends the Occupations Code to provide that a holder of a contact lens dispenser permit who is not a licensed physician, optometrist, or therapeutic optometrist (ocular professional) is exempt from the requirements of the Medical Practice Act and the Texas Optometry Act as long as the permit holder complies with the Contact Lens Prescription Act (Sec. 353.005). H.B. 1877 provides that a written electronic communication sent from or received in Texas in connection with dispensing contact lenses is considered signed if a digital signature is transmitted with the communication. The bill provides that the use of a digital signature is subject to criminal laws relating to fraud and computer crimes (Sec. 353.006). H.B. 1877 authorizes contact lenses to be dispensed by a business entity that holds a contact lens dispensing permit (Sec.353.051). The bill authorizes a person other than an ocular professional to sell or dispense contact lenses, if the person verifies or attempts to verify the consumer's contact lens prescription (Sec. 353.101). The bill requires an ocular professional to provide verification to a person authorized to dispense contact lenses, if a patient or an agent of the patient requests verification of the patient's prescription. If an ocular professional who issues a contact lens prescription fails to respond to a request for a prescription's verification within a medically reasonable time, the patient's previous prescription is considered valid. The bill prohibits an ocular professional from failing or refusing to respond to a request for verification of a prescription if the prescription information submitted contains an error. The bill provides that a health care professional who sells contact lenses must post a sign in at least half-inch type in the area in which payment for the lenses are made, that states patients have a right to receive their contact lense prescription following the final fitting of the contacts (Secs. 353.104, 353.156, and 353.158). The bill removes the provision that a contact lens prescription must contain the original signature of the ocular professional and the provision that the prescription must contain the total number of lenses prescribed for disposable contact lenses (Sec. 353.152). The bill prohibits an ocular professional from issuing a contact lens prescription that expires before the second, rather than the first, anniversary of the date the patient's prescription parameters are determined, unless a shorter period is warranted for the sake of the patient's ocular health (Sec. 353.153). The bill requires an ocular professional to authorize a twomonth prescription extension on a request of an agent of the patient (Sec. 353.155). The bill authorizes an ocular professional to exclude categories of contact lenses from a contact lens prescription only if the exclusion is clinically indicated (Sec. 353.157). The bill provides that the Texas Board of Health is solely responsible for enforcing the Contact Lens Prescription Act with respect to an alleged violation by a business that holds a contact lens dispensing permit (Sec. 353.204). The bill also provides that it is a complete defense to any action against a permit holder if the permit holder was prevented from complying as a result of the refusal by an ocular professional or the ocular professional's agent to verify a prescription or provide prescription information (Sec. 353.204). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.