Benjamin Kachelman
Optometrist · Florence, ALNPI 1255442281
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (40.3%), consulting fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Alcon accounts for 95.2% of it on its own, with 7 other manufacturers making up the rest. Among optometrist clinicians in AL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 327 payments — averaging $308.60 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alcon$96K
- Alcon Research LLC$4K
- Bausch & Lomb, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$260
- Topcon Healthcare, Inc.$201
- Coopervision Inc.$135
- Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc.$119
- plus $83 from 2 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $1280.00 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Topcon Healthcare, Inc.$1K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$29,31529%
- Speaking & faculty fees$40,61940%
- Travel & lodging$23,45723%
- Food & beverage$7,5237%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Alcon | 315 | $96,022 |
| Alcon Research LLC | 2 | $4,095 |
| Bausch & Lomb, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 3 | $260 |
| Topcon Healthcare, Inc. | 1 | $201 |
| Coopervision Inc. | 2 | $135 |
| Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. | 1 | $119 |
| Glaukos Corporation | 1 | $43 |
| Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. | 2 | $40 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- TOTAL30$51,318
- Precision 1$42,641
- DAILIES TOTAL1$41,439
- Precision7$14,954
- DAILIES$5,710
- AIR OPTIX$547
- ULTRA$232
- BIOTRUE ONE DAY$232
- INFUSE$119
- BIOTRUE$116
- Multiple Brands Contact Lens$103
How this compares
$100,914 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 749 optometrist providers in Alabama.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| RestasisCyclosporine | 11 | $11,551 |
| TyrvayaVarenicline Tartrate | 11 | $6,012 |
| Tobramycin-DexamethasoneTobramycin/Dexamethasone | 19 | $926 |
| Latanoprost | 42 | $401 |
| ErythromycinErythromycin Base | 17 | $179 |
| Dorzolamide-TimololDorzolamide Hcl/Timolol Maleat | 11 | $155 |
| Brimonidine Tartrate | 19 | $136 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other optometrist in Florence
- Mark SchaefferHoover$470K
- Kelly NicholsBirmingham$231K
- Neena JamesHuntsville$74K
- Tracey Schroeder SwartzHuntsville$69K
- Jack SchaefferHoover$60K
- Leo SemesBirmingham$60K
- Brooke KaplanMountain Brk$54K
- Patricia FulmerHuntsville$45K
- David SchaefferHoover$45K
- Gregroy HivelyMoody$40K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.