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Common Eye Diseases For Seniors and Their Medicare Coverage
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Although older people are vulnerable to several health problems, the most common of them all is a vision-reducing eye disease. Vision-reducing eye diseases occur mostly at the age of sixty-five and above. There are several causes of the eye diseases experienced by older adults and they include the following:
– Age-related macular degeneration
– Glaucoma
– Diabetic retinopathy
– Cataract
Although older people are vulnerable to several health problems, the most common of them all is a vision-reducing eye disease. Vision-reducing eye diseases occur mostly at the age of sixty-five and above. There are several causes of the eye diseases experienced by older adults and they include the following:
– Age-related macular degeneration
– Glaucoma
– Diabetic retinopathy
– Cataract
● Dry or wet macular degeneration
is also referred to as AMD, which is an acronym for age-related macula degeneration. It is one of the leading and most common causes of vision loss in older adults above sixty-five years of age. Age-related macula degeneration (AMD) as its name implies, is a vision-reducing eye disease caused by the degeneration of the part of the retina that enables central vision (macula).
Age-related macular degeneration can be caused by other factors apart from the advancement of age (old age). It can be caused by hypertension and cigarette smoking. The main symptoms of age-related macula degeneration include; distortion of images, central scotoma, blurry vision.
● Glaucoma
is one of the most significant causes of blindness for individuals over sixty years of age in the United States of America. The vision loss caused by glaucoma is due to an impairment to the optic nerves caused by an increase in fluid pressure against the eyes.
There are primarily two types of glaucoma; open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma. In which, open-angle glaucoma is the most common type of glaucoma in older adults. The chronic or acute nature of this disease increases progressively and affects the iris when medically unattended to (closed-angle glaucoma).
Visual field loss and blurry images are the main symptoms of open-angle glaucoma. The symptoms however extend in closed-angle glaucoma; these symptoms include severe eye pain and seeing rainbow-colored rings around light.
● A cataract
is a cloudy region formed on the iris part of the eyes that used to be clear; hence, causing an alteration to the accuracy of one’s vision. Studies and research have shown that cataract is one of the most common causes of vision impairment and blindness in older adults above sixty-five years of age.
Cataract, which is sometimes called lens opacity is of different types based on the causative. The symptoms of cataracts include blurry vision, color blindness, increased sensitivity to light and double vision.
Medicare involvement in the treatment of vision-reducing eye disease
Medicare is a government-controlled health insurance program that covers the medical and surgical expenses of a qualified person. The level of coverage Medicare offers is limited and depends on the severity of the disease.
When it comes to vision-reducing eye diseases, such as glaucoma, cataract, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macula degeneration. Medicare limits their coverage to the severity of the vision impairment. It however does not mean Medicare does not cover chronic eye conditions.
Medicare covers surgical treatment of chronic eye conditions, such as the removal and replacement of cloudy lenses caused by cataracts. Medicare also covers routine eye care depending on how vulnerable you are to a particular vision-reducing eye disease, such as glaucoma. They only cover a yearly routine eye exam if you have a high risk or you are extremely vulnerable to glaucoma.
Furthermore, Medicare will offer you coverage for an annual eye examination if you are a diabetic patient. The essence of this coverage is to forestall any form of vestige diabetes-related vision impairment, such as diabetic retinopathy.
