To Lions All: Just received this message from my NW Lions Foundation
Trustee in District B. This is great news for the Lions community but also open
many questions on how the Lions will implement the distribution of glasses and
hearing aids. Spread the word. A day to celebrate.
PZC Frank Pearce
District 19C Trustee
Gov. Chris Gregoire
signed into law a measure to shield, against civil lawsuits, charitable
organizations working to provide much-needed eyewear and hearing aids to poor,
homeless and uninsured people.
House Bill
2261 was prime-sponsored in the House by Rep. Dean Takko,
D-Longview. The bill’s language, as amended in the Senate, is similar to that of
Senate Bill 6216, which was sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, and
passed unanimously in the Senate.
Padden and Takko
worked together with civic organizations to shepherd the bipartisan measure
through the legislative process, and both applauded the governor’s signing of
the bill.
“This is great news
for every charity that wants to help provide aid to those who are vision- or
hearing-impaired,” said Takko. “Eighty-seven years ago, Helen Keller delivered a
stirring, inspiring keynote address at the Lions International convention, where
she challenged the Lions ‘to become Knights of the Blind in the crusade against
darkness.’ Today we have made that commission easier to accomplish in this
state, thanks to this bill.”
Padden
agrees.
“I thank my
colleagues in the House and Senate for their unanimous support of this measure
and the governor for signing it into law,” said Padden.
“Organizations such
as the Union Gospel Mission and Lions Club International are working to improve
the vision of thousands of poor and uninsured people in eastern Washington by
distributing donated eyeglasses to those who otherwise would go without. By
protecting these organizations against civil lawsuits, legislators in the House
and Senate have freed those organizations to continue their support for the
state’s most needy citizens,” Padden explained.
Takko noted that
upward of 200,000 pairs of used, good-quality eyeglasses are distributed every
year around the nation to people who are vision-impaired.
Washington’s "Good Samaritan
Act" says people who render care at an emergency (provided they expect no
compensation for their good deeds) have immunity from liability in any lawsuits
that might be considered against them. That law has been strengthened over the
years to also assure immunity for physicians and other health-care providers
volunteering health-care services with nonprofit organizations or with
for-profit groups that regularly provide services to uninsured people. The law,
however, did not provide immunity for the organization
itself.
HB 2261 responds to
this need, as well as to a Washington Board of Optometry decision last year that
interpreted federal law as preventing the redistribution of used glasses without
a prescription.
The bill also
includes a provision that expands the immunity to hearing instruments only if
the hearing instruments are provided by an osteopathic physician or a hearing
health-care professional who has personally examined the
recipient.
Generally, Medicare
does not cover eyeglasses, contact lenses, routine hearing exams or hearing aids
of any type, making charities such as the Lions and Union Gospel Mission vital
to serving the needs of less-fortunate Washingtonians.
The bill goes into
effect on June 7.
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