Kansas Senate Bill SB291

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/6/25
• Refer: 3/7/25

Caption

Modifying certain provisions of the optometry law relating to scope of practice, definitions and credentialing requirements.

Summary

SB 291 revises Kansas optometry law in several ways, primarily by expanding and clarifying what licensed optometrists may do and by updating related licensing terminology and procedures. The bill rewrites the definition of the practice of optometry to expressly include the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of ocular conditions using topical pharmaceutical drugs and oral drugs, including treatment of adult open-angle glaucoma, while continuing to exclude major surgery and other specified invasive procedures. It also authorizes optometrists to perform certain additional procedures not otherwise prohibited, so long as those procedures are within the licensee’s education and training and are authorized by board rules and regulations. The bill also updates credentialing and administrative provisions for the Board of Examiners in Optometry. It requires applicants for licensure to provide proof of professional liability insurance, authorizes fingerprinting and criminal history checks, and adds a new board-administered criminal history and fingerprinting fund. For renewal, it maintains the annual continuing education requirement of 24 hours, including five hours in ocular pharmacology/therapeutics, and directs the board to establish credentialing requirements for procedures listed in the expanded scope of practice. The bill also modernizes definitions such as “health care provider,” “low vision rehabilitation services,” and “oral drugs,” and makes conforming changes to board powers, enforcement, and citation provisions, while repealing several existing sections and replacing them with updated language.

Impact

SB 291 would amend multiple sections of the Kansas optometry statutes, affecting both the scope of practice for optometrists and the regulatory authority of the Board of Examiners in Optometry. It would likely allow licensed optometrists, subject to board credentialing and training requirements, to provide a broader set of eye-care services and to use certain oral medications for ocular conditions, while preserving limits on surgery, anesthesia, and other invasive procedures. It also adds new licensure and renewal-related requirements, including liability insurance, fingerprint-based background checks, and board-set credentialing standards for specific procedures, thereby increasing regulatory oversight of the profession and potentially affecting optometrists, applicants, patients, and the board itself.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the overall sentiment appears neutral to supportive of modernization of optometry practice. The bill is framed as a technical and professional update to the optometry law, with no documented opposition or recorded roll-call controversy in the supplied context. The structure of the bill suggests an intent to align Kansas law with current optometric practice and board oversight standards.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are the expansion of optometrists’ authority to use oral drugs and perform additional procedures, and the requirement that the board set credentialing standards for those procedures. Supporters would likely view these changes as an update to access and efficiency in eye care, while critics may be concerned about patient safety, the boundary between optometry and medicine/surgery, and whether the board’s credentialing rules are sufficient to ensure competence. The bill also introduces liability insurance and criminal history check requirements, which may be viewed as protective safeguards by some and as additional administrative burdens by others.