Social Security: Medicare can help with glaucoma

By Jim Glenn

While vision loss is one of the most feared disabilities we can experience, experts say half of all blindness can be prevented. That’s why I’m so pleased Medicare now covers glaucoma screening for certain at-risk people.

As of this year, Medicare will help pay for an annual eye exam for all Medicare beneficiaries who are at high risk for glaucoma. This includes people with diabetes, those with a family history of glaucoma and African-Americans.

Aging is the single largest risk factor for developing glaucoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness in the U.S. The eye disease affects about two million Americans who are age 65 or older, and about 120,000 Americans now are blind as a result of glaucoma.

In the past, Medicare paid for routine testing for glaucoma only after a patient was identified as having symptoms of the disease. But early detection and treatment made before there are noticeable symptoms can be critical to helping people keep their eyesight.

The Glaucoma Research Foundation reports blindness due to glaucoma costs the U.S. government more than $1.5 billion annually in Social Security benefits, lost income tax revenues and health care expenditures. But a glaucoma screening costs Medicare only $35.

Medicare covers 80 percent of the approved amount for glaucoma screening, after a person has met the $100 deductible.

The need for glaucoma screening will only become more important in the future as the baby boomer generation ages and the number of Americans who are at risk for age-related eye disease increases.

People should take whatever steps they can to protect their eyesight.