It's amazing to know that if you are an elderly patient in need of foot care, you must either take care of clipping your toenails and doing other routine care or find someone you know who is not a professional to take care of your need. It's hard to fancy many elderly citizens being agile enough at age 85 to bend and twist to trim their own toenails and examine the soles of their feet. The insurance companies do say that if you have certain medical conditions that will impact the condition of your foot, then your physician must document that it is medically necessary for you to obtain routine podiatry care. There are disease conditions such as diabetes that require you to have foot care, and you should use that clause in your Medicare insurance to make sure you get appropriate and regular foot care.
Foot Care for Diabetics
If you are an elderly diabetic patient, you shouldn't try to clip your toenails because you could accidentally cut into your skin and then end up with an ulcerating wound that doesn't heal well and is subject to infection. Infections can become gangrenous to the point where you might have to undergo amputation of a limb or limbs.
Medicare Part B Podiatrist Coverage
You are eligible under Medicare Part B to have your podiatrist trim your toenails every three months and examine your feet for any break in your skin that may develop into a sore. Initially, though, a physician must have been treating you for diabetes six months before it became necessary for your podiatrist to clip your toenails. Be aware of that hidden clause. Never try bending over to examine the soles of your feet while in a standing position. You run the risk of experiencing dizziness, which may cause you to lose your balance. You could fall down and in the interim fracture a bone in your body.
Other Foot-Care Insurance Under Part B
If you suffer from systemic neurological, peripheral, metabolic, and vascular diseases, you will require professional foot care as well as other specialists' professional care. Your podiatrist's administrative staff will call Medicare to ensure that you are covered for any treatments recommended, including treatment of fungal-infected toenails. Your podiatrist may find it necessary to treat your fungal-infected toenails because the infection is promoting secondary infection and pain. This condition limits your mobility and demands that you receive podiatry treatment.
Bear in mind always that even though Medicare has a set of rules for reimbursing podiatrists for services rendered, there are instances when other diseases such as cancer negatively impact your foot condition and so you must see a podiatrist. Your condition is a medical need, and Medicare will pay for such visits when a doctor confirms that you need a certain type of care.
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