A-Scan Eye Test Cost in 2026: Medicare Pays $69.47
Medicare pays $69.47 for an A-scan with the intraocular lens power calculation (CPT 76519), as the CY2026 national non-facility amount. If your Part B deductible is met, your own share is the 20% coinsurance, about $13.89. There is no published self-pay price for this test, by anyone, which is covered below.
Every dollar figure on this page is a CY2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule amount, national and unadjusted, for a non-facility setting. Each one is the code's non-facility total relative value multiplied by the CY2026 conversion factor of 33.4009, both printed in the CMS relative value file (RVU26A). Read from that file on 30 September 2026. Your own locality is adjusted up or down by its geographic index, so a local amount will differ from the national one.
What Medicare pays for each biometry code (CY2026)
Two columns matter: what Medicare pays the practice, and what comes out of your pocket if you are on Original Medicare with the deductible already met.
Each amount equals the code's non-facility total relative value times 33.4009: for example 76519 is 2.08 relative values, so 2.08 times 33.4009 is $69.47. The Part B deductible of $283 applies before any coinsurance.
Why there is no cash price for an A-scan
An A-scan is almost never bought on its own. It is ordered as one measurement inside cataract surgery planning, billed to Medicare or to a medical plan, and quoted as part of a surgical case rather than as a line item. No optical chain sells it, no professional body publishes a fee for it, and clinics that do publish self-pay prices publish surgery packages rather than individual measurements.
So if you are uninsured and need a figure to plan with, the fee schedule above is the honest anchor: it is the only published price for the test, and a self-pay quote is normally set as some multiple of it. Ask the clinic for the self-pay amount against the specific CPT code, which is the question that gets a real answer.
One more practical point: if a dense cataract means the surgeon needs both ultrasound and a B-scan, those are two separate codes at $69.47 and $48.77. Medicare prices them individually and does not publish a combined figure, so add them yourself rather than trusting a bundled number.
A-scan vs optical biometry
A-scan (ultrasound)
A probe contacts the cornea after anaesthetic drops. Still needed when a dense cataract stops light getting through. CPT 76519.
Optical biometry (IOL Master, Lenstar)
Non-contact, using partial coherence interferometry. Faster, more comfortable, more precise for routine planning, and cheaper on the fee schedule. CPT 92136.
FAQ
How much does an A-scan eye test cost in 2026?
No clinic, chain or professional body publishes a self-pay price for an A-scan, so there is no cash figure to quote. The one published price is Medicare's: $69.47 for A-scan biometry with intraocular lens power calculation (CPT 76519), as the national unadjusted non-facility amount in the CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule. That is what Medicare pays the practice, not what a self-pay patient is billed. If you are on Original Medicare and your Part B deductible is already met, your share is the 20% coinsurance, about $13.89.
What is an A-scan eye test used for?
An A-scan measures the axial length of the eyeball using ultrasound, used primarily for calculating the power of an intraocular lens before cataract surgery. It is also used to assess tumours, vitreous haemorrhage and globe trauma. Most clinics now use optical biometry instead (IOL Master or Lenstar), which is non-contact and more precise for routine cataract planning. A-scan remains useful when a dense cataract stops light penetrating.
What is the difference between A-scan and IOL Master?
A-scan uses ultrasound and needs a probe to touch the cornea after anaesthetic drops. IOL Master and Lenstar use partial coherence interferometry, which is light-based and non-contact. Medicare prices them as separate codes: $69.47 for ultrasound A-scan with the lens calculation (CPT 76519) and $48.10 for optical biometry with the lens calculation (CPT 92136), both CY2026 national non-facility amounts. Optical biometry is the cheaper of the two on the fee schedule.
Is the A-scan covered by Medicare?
Yes when medically necessary. All three A-scan codes carry an active status on the CY2026 fee schedule, so Medicare Part B pays for them when the test is required for cataract surgery planning, a suspected intraocular tumour, or another documented medical indication. The Part B deductible ($283 in 2026) applies first, then you pay 20% coinsurance.
Do I need an A-scan before LASIK?
No. LASIK planning uses corneal topography and corneal thickness measurement, not axial length biometry. A-scan is specifically for calculating intraocular lens power in cataract surgery or refractive lens exchange.
Sources
- CMS PFS relative value file RVU26A, January 2026 release (the relative values every amount here is derived from)
- CMS Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool
- CMS: 2026 Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles
- American Academy of Ophthalmology: cataracts
- AAO EyeWiki: A-scan biometry
This page is informational, not medical advice. Discuss biometry options with your cataract surgeon.