If you are diabetic and on Medicare, did you know that one of your Medicare benefits is a pair of shoes with special diabetic insoles each calendar year? Just as Medicare supplies you with diabetic testing materials, the shoes and diabetic insoles are provided to you with a doctor’s prescription.
The shoes come in all styles and colors – casual, dress and athletic. They are light and we size you to make sure you have the right length, width and type of shoe for your feet. If you have narrow or very wide feet, we can fit you. If you have swelling in your feet and ankles, we can still fit you.
Medicare’s diabetic shoes are a medical benefit so they are subject to deductibles and co-pays. They are not free, although some do not pay anything out of pocket because of the type insurance they have. Generally speaking, this is how the payments work:
1. If you have Medicare and a supplemental insurance policy, if the policy does cover diabetic shoes (not all do), you probably will not pay anything out of pocket. If your supplemental policy does not cover shoes, your co-pay will be about $60.
2. If you have Medicare only, you would have a co-pay of about $60, unless you also have Medicaid (in which case you do not pay anything out pocket). If you are unable to pay the co-pay because you are on a low fixed income, let us know and you may not have to pay anything out of pocket. We do not want to turn anyone away because of an inability to make the co-pay.
3. If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, you most likely will have a co-pay of $60, unless you are on a low fixed income and contact us about it. There are many types of these plans and some only allow you to obtain shoes from specific stores or offices so it is possible you may not be able to get shoes from Smart Feet.
4. There are some Medicare Advantage Plans that pay us less than Medicare does. If that is your plan, your co-pay may be anywhere from $60 to $150.
If you are interested in taking advantage of this benefit, contact us and we will send you the medical form we need from the doctor. We may ask you about whether you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan in case it is a plan that will not let us provide you with the shoes.
If you or someone you care for is not really able to come in the store and you live in the Savannah area, or if you are not in the Savannah area, we do have outside representatives who cover these geographical areas:
Savannah up to Charleston, SC
Savannah up to Macon
Savannah down to Valdosta
Greenville, SC - About 60 miles in any direction from Greenville