The goal of this research was to analyze Medicare spending patterns for glaucoma treatments from 2000 to 2020 in the United States. This cost-benefit analysis of glaucoma surgery was made using the Current Procedural Terminology codes for those procedures found in the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) database. Data on Medicare and Medicaid Services’ reimbursement for the relevant operations were collected using the Physician Fee Schedule look-up tool, and compensation patterns were analyzed after being adjusted for inflation to 2020 US dollars from the original, uncorrected data spanning 2000-2020. Over the course of the studied 20-year time period, the average adjusted reimbursement for the operations in question fell by 20.5% [95% CI, −15.4% to −25.6%]. Annualized reimbursement rate decreases averaged 1.03% (95% CI, −0.74% to −1.33%), with an adjusted compound annual growth rate of −1.35% (95% CI, −1.07% to −1.64%). Overall, the study found that glaucoma surgeries were reimbursed at a decreasing rate. Between 2000 and 2020, there was a considerable drop in Medicare’s reimbursement for glaucoma procedures in the United States. These results may help shed light on why glaucoma treatment methods are shifting the way they are.
