Medicare Pays Out More Than a Billion to ODs

Optometrists for the first time earned more than $1 billion in reimbursements under Medicare during 2012, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), according to the AOA (American Optometric Assn.). Complete 2012 data on the number of optometrists providing services under Medicare, the number of Medicare patients seen that year, or the total number of services provided by them is not yet available. However, the CMS estimates 32,404 optometrists saw Medicare patients during 2011, and more than 11 million services were performed by those optometrists under Medicare that year. Read more.