DIABETES
Insurance coverage is
available to help obtain
footwear for people with
diabetes and foot complications.
Required Forms:
PROTECTING THE AT-RISK FOOT
If you have medical insurance and are diagnosed with diabetes and foot complications, you may have coverage for therapeutic footwear at little or no out-of-pocket or
up-front cost.
Protecting At-Risk Feet
People with diabetes, who are diagnosed by their doctor to have complications of neuropathy and circulatory deficiencies face the risk of developing lesions on their feet. Lesions become infections that easily escalate and progress to amputations. A major contributing risk-factor is footwear that causes excessive shear and compressive forces to occur on the weight-bearing foot.
A primary strategy for protecting the feet of people with diabetes is to provide therapeutic footwear. Therapeutic shoes are professionally fitted to accommodate custom molded insoles, and provide a safe environment for the feet, especially in the toe area. Custom molded insoles evenly distribute pressures across the weight-bearing (plantar) surface of the foot.
Therapeutic Shoe Benefit (TSB) for Persons with Diabetes and Complications
In May 1993, Congress amended Medicare statutes to provide partial reimbursement for depth shoes, custom molded shoes, and shoe inserts or orthopedic modifications to qualifying Medicare Part B patients with diabetes. Most insurers and HMOs provide coverage for diabetic footwear.
In order to qualify, you must have a diagnosis of diabetes with at least one of the following conditions:
- History of partial or complete amputation of the foot
- History of previous foot ulceration
- History of pre-ulcerative callus
- Peripheral neuropathy with evidence of callus formation
- Foot deformity
- Poor circulation
About Us
Your feet and how footwear can help them is our “sole” concern. Board Certified Pedorthists are credentialed as L.Peds, who are clinically trained shoe specialists, knowledgeable in anatomy & physiology, lower-extremity biomechanics, and disorders affecting the feet and gait. What’s more, experienced pedorthists know shoe construction.
Whether it’s for casting and crafting a custom shoe, or cutting apart a shoe and building up an orthopedic modification, you can depend upon skilled hand work and expert decision-making.
We are accredited by the American Board for Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics and is a member of the Pedorthic Footwear Association and the Diabetes Coalition of Massachusetts.
- For your appointment, you will need two items:
- Prescription
- Statement of Certifying Physician (SCP), signed by an MD.
If you are using Medicare, you need two more items
- Clinical Notes, detailing the complication, secondary to Diabetes, which is stated on your SCP. These Clinical Notes must be signed by your Certifying Physician
- Evidence that you have seen your certifying physician within the past six months.
For People Living with Diabetes
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) Complications of Diabetes
Diabetes in the Workplace
American Diabetes Association. Winning at Work
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC's Diabetes Program -
Diabetes Projects - Business and Diabetes
Contact Us
at (937) 599-2250
to get started
Improving Foot Function - Lee’s Comfort Shoes & Active Orthopedics , Copyright 2012 - All Rights Reserved
