Medicare and Glasses - New Legislature coming?
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/14/medi...ts-budget.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardg...h=5138bb825701
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...aring-benefits
So... if this is passed and plain old Medicare starts covering glasses (outside of the post-cataract pair they get), how will it change things for you?
About 80% of our patients are of Medicare age. Older folks on fixed incomes can't always buy a new pair each year, as Medicare doesn't cover it. The only vision plan we accept is VSP, so most that have a vision plan with their Medicare supplement or Medicare advantage plan end up paying out of pocket to us anyway as we don't accept Davis, NVA, etc.. On one hand, I know that if Medicare starts covering glasses, we'll get a lot more glasses orders. On the other hand, I wonder how they plan to roll this out and how complicated it will be. Will the glasses be billed through DMERC like the post-cataract glasses are currently billed? Or will they assign separate vision plans? And if they have a supplement or advantage plan with an existing vision plan would that make them ineligible through standard Medicare? Will it be subject to their deductible? It's going to take us a lot more time to determine eligibility and to devote time to submitting claims. Not sure how that's going to play out. I wonder if they will have the same benefit allowances as the current benefit for post-cataract surgery glasses...
Do you think this will pass? Do you even want it to pass? I feel like dental and vison *should* be covered for those on Medicare. We have many older patients who make do with old, broken glasses with lens powers that are no longer what they need because they can't afford to get new ones. I am wondering if when and if this bill comes to pass, if there will be a big influx of Medicare patients rushing in to get glasses.
