OBJECTIVES: To examine the health care resource utilizations and economic burden of cataracts in the US Medicare population. METHODS: A retrospective database analysis was performed using national Medicare data from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2013. Patients diagnosed with cataract were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis code 366. The first diagnosis date was defined as the index date for the cataract cohort. A comparison cohort of patients without a cataract diagnosis was created using 1:1 propensity score matching to adjust for demographic characteristics including age, region, gender, index year, race, and baseline Charlson Comorbidity Index score. The index date for the comparison cohort was randomly chosen to reduce selection bias. One year of continuous health plan enrollment was required before and after the index date for both cohorts. Study outcomes, including health care costs and utilizations were compared between the cataract and comparison cohorts. RESULTS: After 1:1 matching, a total of 345,937 patients were matched from the cataract and comparison cohorts, and baseline characteristics were proportionate. A higher percentage of patients in the cataract cohort had inpatient stays (16.00% vs. 14.32%, p<0.0001), emergency room visits (20.35% vs. 16.89%, p<0.0001), physician office visits (99.05% vs. 74.71%, p<0.0001), outpatient hospital visits (74.84% vs. 55.15%, p<0.0001), and durable medical equipment (DME) use (32.67% vs. 23.51%, p<0.0001), but a lower percentage of patients had prescription claims for part D drug events (54.41% vs. 60.32%, p<0.0001). Cataract patients also incurred higher inpatient costs ($3,357 vs. $3,029, p<0.0001), physician office costs ($3,029 vs. $1,811, p<0.0001), outpatient hospital costs ($5,355 vs. $3,448, p<0.0001), and total costs ($15,141 vs. $11,914, p<0.0001) compared to patients without a cataract diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Cataract diagnosis was associated with higher health care resource utilization and a higher economic burden.