Alcon & STAAR leap on CMS ruling

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a ruling that will allow Medicare beneficiaries undergoing cataract surgery to choose an astigmatism-correcting intraocular lens (IOL).

Similar to the CMS decision allowing cataract patients access to presbyopia-correcting IOLs, this new ruling will allow patients to pay the additional charges for the correction of pre-existing astigmatism while Medicare will provide customary reimbursement for the cataract surgery.

Both Alcon and STAAR Surgical believe that their Toric lenses (AcrySof Toric IOL, Alcon; STAAR Toric IOL, STAAR) will be included under this ruling. Such lenses allow a surgeon to replace the cataract lens and provide refractive correction for the astigmatic cornea in a single procedure.