Which brow lift procedure for peripheral vision is covered by Medicare?

Medicare and other insurances may or may not cover the surgery for a variety of brow lifts.  Whether they do depends on your physical findings, your specific plan, whether your doctor is a participant with the particular plan, whether the plan allows payment to out of network physicians and your findings on a visual field test.  At times, the blockage of your peripheral vision is due to 2 problems - brow sagging and sagging of the upper eyelid skin.In the later cases, it is  customary for one procedure to be covered by the insurance and the other to be considered a patient responsibility elective procedure.Hope this helps.Be well and best regards,Fred G. Fedok, MD FACS

Thank you for your question. Always work with a board certified facial plastic surgeon.
Best wishes,

Unfortunately, the plastic surgeon is correct -- Medicare has no interest in paying for cosmetic procedures and they have made their policies in 2018 very clear.  However, if your drooping brows and/or eyelids are severely impairing your vision there may be some options for you. You could try to visit another plastic surgeon that works more with medical patients and functional problems -- sometimes a university based doctor might be able to help more than a private practice physician that probably doesn't perform much Medicare surgery. Best of luck.Damon B. Chandler, MDHarvard-Penn Trained Oculofacial Surgeon