The Congress to Process a Law for Free Glasses for Minors

The Spanish Congress of Deputies will begin today the processing of a law whose main objective is to ensure that glasses and contact lenses, increasingly needed by Spanish minors, are free for their families. If this law is approved, these items would be funded by public healthcare.

The law, a legislative proposal from the Andalusian Parliament, aims to alleviate "visual poverty" in Spain, which refers to the economic inability of many to afford corrective lenses. Therefore, the proposal also suggests that the state subsidise the purchase of glasses or contact lenses for some adults, with public contributions varying according to the beneficiary's income.

Parliamentary groups have not yet officially announced their voting intentions for the Congress session this afternoon, which will decide whether to consider the Andalusian proposal. If approved, it would proceed to debate and approval. However, there should be no issues in gaining approval from the Lower House, as the Andalusian Parliament unanimously passed the proposal last October with support from the PP, PSOE, Vox, and left-wing groups who were the reform's promoters.

If passed in its current form, the proposal would amend the law on cohesion and quality of the National Health System (SNS) to include optical and visual health products in the supplementary service portfolio of Spanish public healthcare. This would allow for their funding or co-payment with state funds, similar to other areas in this portfolio such as medications, orthopaedic and dietary products, or non-urgent medical transport.

The future law defines in its article 18 bis the provision of optical and visual health products as "the dispensing and use of all products or treatments aimed at the care and improvement of all alterations or diseases related to the basic functions of the visual system, which prevent or hinder a person from achieving a physical, cultural, structural, and functional state of social well-being."

The text, now subject to amendments, states that the funds to annually finance the payment and subsidies for glasses and contact lenses will be determined by the Government, which will then transfer them to the autonomous communities for management, sourced from the State Budget.

The law, in its sole transitional provision, stipulates that within a maximum of six months from its entry into force, the SNS Interterritorial Council, comprising representatives from the Ministry of Health and regional health departments, must approve a gradual implementation plan for the new benefits. This plan should include a funding agreement and set subsidy limits for adult lenses based on socio-economic conditions. Optical products for children and adolescents should be free regardless of family circumstances.

The rationale for creating a public funding system for glasses and contact lenses is based on the fact that, with private access being the only current option, there is a discrimination in Spain between those who can afford these products and those who cannot, depending on their income. This creates direct positive or negative effects on the educational, social, or professional development of millions of Spaniards, from childhood to adulthood. As evidence of this social inequality, the preamble of the law notes that Spaniards in professional positions (directors and managers) use glasses or contact lenses twelve percentage points more than unskilled workers. This disparity is not due to greater visual deficits among the former but rather the latter's inability to afford the lenses they need.