republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2020/sb-19.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Electronic technology for ophthalmic prescriptions."
description: "Removes the restriction on the prescribing of ophthalmic devices through telemedicine and sets conditions on when a provider may, through telemedicine, prescribe medical devices. Establishes conditions that must be met before a prescriber may issue a prescription for an ophthalmic device through telemedicine. Prohibits making changes and substitutions to a prescription for contact lenses or prescription eye glasses unless under the direction of the prescriber. States that a prescriber is not liable for any damage or injury to an individual resulting from the packaging, manufacturing, or dispensing of the contact lenses or prescription eye glasses unless the prescriber is also the seller. Prohibits the optometry board from establishing restrictive standards concerning the practice of ocular telemedicine or ocular telehealth."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 19"
citation: "Indiana SB 19 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["OPTOMETRISTS AND OPTOMETRY", "HEALTH", "Health Care Professionals"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cindy Kirchhofer", "Ed Charbonneau", "Mark Messmer"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-06"
last_action: "2020-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8b223ae6-d3d6-4313-8ac9-9108541a5c19"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/senate/19"
source_hash: "98d38a5977abf918b42c692caecb5996c76708f892b07bdad5c26e080aaf06a5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 19 (2020) — Electronic technology for ophthalmic prescriptions.

Removes the restriction on the prescribing of ophthalmic devices through telemedicine and sets conditions on when a provider may, through telemedicine, prescribe medical devices. Establishes conditions that must be met before a prescriber may issue a prescription for an ophthalmic device through telemedicine. Prohibits making changes and substitutions to a prescription for contact lenses or prescription eye glasses unless under the direction of the prescriber. States that a prescriber is not liable for any damage or injury to an individual resulting from the packaging, manufacturing, or dispensing of the contact lenses or prescription eye glasses unless the prescriber is also the seller. Prohibits the optometry board from establishing restrictive standards concerning the practice of ocular telemedicine or ocular telehealth.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0019/versions/SB0019.03.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0019/versions/SB0019.05.ENRH)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0019/versions/SB0019.01.INTR)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0019/versions/SB0019.04.COMH)
5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0019/versions/SB0019.02.COMS)

## Votes

- SB 19 - Kirchhofer - 3rd Reading — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 19 - Charbonneau - 3rd Reading — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cindy Kirchhofer — primary (person)
- Ed Charbonneau — primary (person)
- Mark Messmer — primary (person)
- Ann Vermilion — cosponsor (person)
- Brad Barrett — cosponsor (person)
- Jeff Raatz — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-06** Authored by Senator Charbonneau
- **2020-01-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-06** Senator Messmer added as second author
- **2020-01-30** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-03** Amendment #2 (Leising) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2020-02-03** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-04** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 134: yeas 48, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-02-04** House sponsor: Representative Kirchhofer
- **2020-02-04** Cosponsors: Representatives Vermilion A and Barrett
- **2020-02-04** Senator Raatz added as coauthor
- **2020-02-05** Referred to the House
- **2020-02-10** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-17** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-18** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 184: yeas 96, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-02-19** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-03** Motion to concur filed
- **2020-03-04** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 322: yeas 49, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-09** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-16** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-18** Public Law 52
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the President of the Senate

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8b223ae6-d3d6-4313-8ac9-9108541a5c19`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).