Eye Surgery and Treatment

TRICARE covers many eye surgeries and treatments. Generally, this includes services and supplies needed to diagnose and treat an eye illness or injury. 

Eye Condition	Covered Service/Treatment
Astigmatism following a corneal transplant	Relaxing keratotomy
Choroidal melanoma	Transpupillary thermotherapy with plaque radiotherapy
Corneal dystrophies	Phototherapeutic keratectomy
Corneal disease or injury	Corneal transplant (keratoplasty)
Glaucoma (that can't be controlled with drugs)	ExPRESS Mini glaucoma shunt to reduce intraocular pressure
Keratoconus	Intrastromal corneal ring segments (if glasses or lenses aren’t working and a corneal transplant is your only other option)
Loss of human lens function resulting from intraocular surgery, ocular injury, or congenital absence	Standard fixed non-accommodating monofocal intraocular lenses
Retinoblastoma	Transpupillary thermotherapy with chemotherapy
Retinal astrocytic hamartoma in tuberous sclerosis	Photodynamic therapy with Visudyne (off-label use)
Strabismus	Surgical procedures and eye exams

TRICARE doesn’t cover:

• Refractive corneal surgery
• Orthokeratology
• Orthoptics, also known as visual training, vision therapy, eye exercises, or eye therapy
• Epikeratophakia for treatment of aphakia and myopia
• Intraocular lenses for correcting astigmatism and presbyopia. This includes any adjustments, subsequent treatment, services or supplies needed due to the lens surgery.
• Canaloplasty for the treatment of glaucoma
• Autologous serum eye drops for dry eyes, keratitis, or ocular hypertension