Knock Knock Eye: Myopia Is Officially a Disease: What the AMA Reclassification Means

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association put out a truly hilarious study complaining that AI tools drove nearly $1 billion in extra costs for their insurers over two years, blaming hospitals and doctors for using AI to code more accurately. This from the industry that pioneered using AI to deny claims. It's an arms race now, and the only people who actually lose are patients, premiums keep going up regardless of who wins.

Then two big eyeball wins. The AMA House of Delegates finally reclassified myopia as a disease, which should push pediatric progression treatments like Stellest lenses, ortho-K, and atropine drops onto medical insurance instead of cash pay. And Dr. Morgan Micheletti's team sent 135 intraocular lenses to the International Space Station for six months to see if cataract surgery could survive deep space travel, most held up remarkably well.

Takeaways:

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is complaining that AI tools have driven ~$1 billion in extra insurer costs, ignoring that insurance companies pioneered using AI to deny and downcode claims.

The healthcare AI arms race is a battle for a fixed pot of money, and patients always end up paying via higher premiums.

The AMA House of Delegates has adopted a resolution formally classifying myopia as a disease, opening the door for medical insurance coverage of progression treatments.

Stellest lenses, orthokeratology, and atropine eye drops are the current options for slowing pediatric myopia progression, with Stellest showing about 70% reduction over two years.

Dr. Morgan Micheletti's ISS study found that most acrylic intraocular lenses survived six months exposed to space, suggesting cataract surgery in space may eventually be feasible.

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