United States Medicare Reimbursement Trends for Glaucoma Procedures: 2000-2020

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate US Medicare reimbursement trends for common glaucoma procedures from 2000 to 2020.

Materials and methods: Current Procedural Terminology codes for Glaucoma procedures in the US centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services database were used to conduct this economic analysis. Reimbursement data from the Physician Fee Schedule look-up tool from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were compiled for the selected procedures and compensation trends were investigated after adjusting for inflation in 2020 US dollars from the unadjusted data between 2000 and 2020.

Results: The average adjusted reimbursement for the analyzed procedures decreased by 20.5% [95% confidence interval (CI), -15.4% to -25.6%] over the 20-year period. On average, there was a 1.03% decrease in reimbursement rates per year (95% CI, -0.74% to -1.33%), with an adjusted compound annual growth rate of -1.35% (95% CI, -1.07% to -1.64%). The results show an overall declining rate in reimbursement for the glaucoma procedures analyzed in this study.

Conclusions: The US Medicare reimbursement for glaucoma procedures in the United States showed a significant decline between 2000 and 2020. These findings may be relevant to understanding changing practice patterns for glaucoma care.