By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) has helped pass a measure to help seniors and others with chronic eye conditions and a separate measure to help the process for life-saving organ donations.
Brady said insurance companies can’t refuse to cover someone’s eye-drop medications if they run out prematurely.
“For those with glaucoma, chronic dry eye, and other serious running out of medication could put their vision at risk, but precise dosing of eye drops is nearly impossible. Sometimes it takes several tries to actually get the drops in the eyes, so medication is wasted and the bottle is empty before the refill date arrives,” Brady explained. “This new law simply tells insurance providers that as long as at least 75 percent of the prescription period has passed, they must approve refills of needed eye medications early for those with chronic eye conditions.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the bill into law this week.
Organ donations
Rauner also this week signed into law Brady’s House Bill 4120 which will expedite the permitting process for briefly transferring a deceased organ donor out of state for donation.
“Organ donation is a process where every minute matters. The more quickly the donation and transplant procedures can be accomplished, the better the chance of success,” Brady stressed.
The law will allow a permit signed by a licensed funeral director or embalmer to serve in place of more time-consuming documents issued by a registrar to transport a deceased organ donor out of Illinois for up to 36 hours to complete the donation procedures where they are needed.
Representative Brady noted that sometimes out-of-state transport of a deceased donor is required, depending on the location. Brady said waiting for additional paperwork from a local registrar costs precious time.
“Now, the funeral director or embalmer can authorize the temporary transfer themselves rather than waiting for the registrar. This new law will move the process along more quickly to help give the recipients of the life-saving donations their best chance at a good result,” Representative Brady said.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
