LAUSR

Medicare is a significant insurer for patients seeking urological surgeries. As a proxy, the median age at diagnosis of prostate cancer is 67, bladder cancer is 73, and kidney cancer is 64. The volume of urological surgeries reimbursed by Medicare will continue to grow as the Medicare population is projected to increase by over 22% in the next decade. The rising costs of health care in the United States challenges the sustainability of overall health care delivery. Among the many responsibilities of Medicare, including providing basic health insurance to patients aged 65 and older and compensating providers for managing their care, a fundamental requisite is to avoid insolvency, a scenario that could occur as soon as 2026. As a result, health policy legislators must balance strategies to reduce health care costs, such as limiting Medicare reimbursement, while considering potential consequences, such as financial vulnerability for medical practices and subsequent reduction in patient access to care. Analyzing recent reimbursement trends may help urology practices contextualize payment policy and prepare for upcoming financial changes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fiscal trends in Medicare reimbursement of urological surgeries over the last 2 decades.