Advocacy News

The Academy’s advocacy efforts continue following our successful campaign to have problematic new local coverage determination policies for minimally invasive glaucoma surgery withdrawn at the end of 2023.

Military veterans’ eye care, physician payment reform, reducing practice burdens, ensuring patients’ timely access to needed treatments, and increasing member engagement will drive the Academy’s 2024 advocacy efforts on behalf of ophthalmology patients and practices.

After months of Academy advocacy, Medicare administrative contractor WPS has released a finalized coverage policy for cataract surgery that abandons a proposed indication that a patient has a best corrected vision of 20/50 or worse.  

In recognition of our ophthalmology coalition’s concerns, five Medicare administrative contractors have canceled problematic glaucoma surgery coverage policies that were scheduled to begin Jan. 29.

The Academy and our ophthalmic coalition have succeeded in delaying implementation of new minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) local coverage determination policies.

Four more Medicare administrative contractors published their final local coverage determinations for glaucoma surgical procedures today, following the lead of WPS. The policies will take effect Dec. 24.

Medicare administrative contractor WPS published its final local coverage determination for glaucoma surgical procedures today, after months of Academy advocacy and public input on this important coverage issue. The policy will take effect Dec. 24.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Center for Clinical Standards and Quality was responsive to suggestions from the Academy and the American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery on how to improve the cataract cost measure for ophthalmology in a meeting Tuesday.

Cigna’s action means that providers will not have to submit medical records to comply with the insurer’s now-delayed policy.

After sharing how this burdensome new policy will harm practices and patients, the insurer agreed to delay the requirement’s effective start date.