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Summer 2014 • Kentucky
Kentucky patients with
chronic eye conditions
benefit from new law
Thanks to the Kentucky Academy of
Eye Physicians and Surgeons
FRANKFORT, KY – Governor Steve
Beshear signed Senate Bill 118 on April
7, 2014, signaling a win for the Kentucky
Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons
(“the Academy”) who worked diligently with legislators during the General
Assembly to promote the bill.
Anyone who has used eye drops knows that
application can be difficult and often results
in inadvertent waste. Unlike a pill, drops
that miss the eye are gone forever – there is
no way to recover the lost amount. Health
plans often provide an inadequate volume of
monthly eye drops for patients with chronic
eye conditions because they fail to account
for this common, unavoidable problem. For
those with chronic eye conditions, inadvertent waste can prove to be an obstacle
for effective treatment. The elderly and
children, who often struggle with successful drop application, frequently run out of
their prescription before a refill is allowed.
Shortages can be especially detrimental for
glaucoma patients; gaps in treatment can
lead to vision loss and increase the risk of
blindness.
Recognizing this barrier to care, the
Academy lobbied for reform. Thanks
to their efforts, patients who use prescription eye drops can now refill
their prescription after 25 days,
instead of the previous 30, if the
practitioner notes on the prescription that additional quantities
are needed. For a 90 day prescription, early
refills are now permitted between 80 and 90
days. In addition, Senate Bill 118 also allows
for an extra bottle of prescription eye drops
to be kept at a school or daycare center and
filled once every three months.
“This change is important to those patients
who suffer from chronic eye disease.
Without proper treatment patients may
face much more costly and invasive intervention, such as surgery,” said Dr. Julie
Lee, President-elect of the Academy. The
Academy’s mission is to promote and
advance the science and art of medicine and
surgery, and to provide convenient and quality eye care to the citizens of Kentucky. To
learn more about the group, visit their website at http://www.kyeyemds.org/.
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