[Nfbf-l] Medicare to Provide Payment for the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System

[Alan Dicey]

>From the Foundation Fighting Blindness News
Retinitis Pigmentosa
    Medicare to Provide Payment for the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System
Aug. 16, 2013 - The Argus II® Retinal Prosthesis System, the first and only
artificial retina to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
will be at least partially covered under Medicare. Payment for both the
system and implantation surgery will be provided. Further details of the
implementation of Medicare payments - including the amounts of reimbursement
and out-of-pocket costs - are forthcoming. People who are considered
disabled because of vision loss may qualify for Medicare.

"Medicare reimbursement means that many people who can benefit from the
Argus II can get access to it." says Stephen Rose, Ph.D., chief research
officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness. "This is outstanding news for people
who have lost their vision to retinitis pigmentosa."

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., developer of the Argus II, announced in
June that the device will be offered at 12 clinical centers throughout the
United States. Announcements for some of the centers are listed on Second
Sight's news page. Additional clinical-center announcements are forthcoming.

The Argus II consists of an external video camera mounted on a pair of
sunglasses which sends visual images to a 60-electrode grid surgically
implanted on the retina. The grid converts those images to electrical
signals, which are sent back to the brain.

Users of the device perceive patterns of light, which the brain learns to
interpret as vision. The device has enabled clinical trial participants who
are profoundly blind from advanced retinitis pigmetnosa to see shapes,
recognize large letters and significantly improve mobility.

The Argus II has also received regulatory approval in Europe.