Bill 438.

Summary.

The bill proposes amending Article 2 of Law 134 of December 31, 2013 by adding item (20). That item introduces an additional fifteen percent (15 %) discount on the purchase of frames and prescription lenses. The provision ties the benefit to the purchase of those products and expressly describes the discount as additional. The change is made within Article 2 of the named law through a new item, rather than by replacing the entire text of that article.

The discount would apply to all persons with disabilities duly certified by the National Disability Secretariat (Secretaría Nacional de Discapacidad, SENADIS). Certification by that body is the condition Article 1 establishes for identifying those eligible for the benefit. The same article defines the products covered: frames and prescription lenses. The proposed item thus brings together the discount rate, the persons eligible to receive it, and the type of purchase to which it would apply.

To implement the benefit, Article 2 directs the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) to issue the necessary implementing regulations. The ministry must act in coordination with the National Disability Secretariat and the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia, ACODECO). The time allowed to issue those regulations is no more than six (6) months. The bill thus assigns a coordinating role in the regulatory process to the three named institutions, while placing responsibility for issuing the regulations with the Ministry of Health. Those regulations concern implementation of the discount added to Article 2 of Law 134 of December 31, 2013.

Article 3 provides that the proposed law would take effect upon promulgation. The text therefore combines entry into force at that point with a subsequent period of no more than six (6) months for issuing the regulations needed to implement the benefit. Its express amendment is the addition of item (20) to Article 2 of Law 134 of December 31, 2013.

The bill concerns the Ministry of Health, the National Disability Secretariat, and the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority. Its provisions could be of interest to, or affect, certified persons with disabilities and businesses that sell frames and prescription lenses.