Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Approximately 4.22 million people in the United States were living with glaucoma in 2022, and about 1.49 million people have vision affecting glaucoma with measurable visual field loss. (2) Approximately half of people with glaucoma are unaware they have the disease; one NHANES based analysis estimated about 2.4 million Americans with undiagnosed and untreated glaucoma, representing roughly 78 percent of those with definite disease. (3) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that more than 3 million Americans currently have glaucoma and that this number will increase to about 6.3 million by 2050 as the population ages. (4) Vision loss and blindness substantially increase Medicare and overall medical spending, with earlier work showing that vision loss is associated with billions of dollars in additional non-eye-related medical costs. (5) Adults at higher risk for glaucoma include individuals who are 40 years of age or older and are of African, Hispanic/Latino, or Asian ancestry, as well as individuals with clinical risk factors for glaucoma, including diabetes; a family history of glaucoma; elevated intraocular pressure; very low or very high blood pressure; myopia; a history of corneal refractive surgery or other causes of reduced central corneal thickness; or chronic corticosteroid use. All individuals may also be at higher risk if they have a first-degree relative with diagnosed glaucoma or have uncontrolled diabetes. (6) Economic burden studies group glaucoma within major adult visual disorders and estimate that vision problems jointly cost tens of billions of dollars annually in direct medical costs, lost productivity, disability benefits, and lost tax revenues. (7) Medicare part B currently covers one glaucoma screening every 12 months for certain high-risk individuals, including people with diabetes, those with a family history of glaucoma, African Americans age 50 and older, and Hispanics age 65 and older. (8) By contrast, Medicaid programs, private sector group health plans, and Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plans are not uniformly required by Federal law to cover glaucoma screening, leaving significant gaps in early detection for many high-risk adults.