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 Diabetes
is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States.
During the past decade, there has been an increase of
33% with the diabetic population currently topping 16
million people. There are many complications associated
with diabetes including kidney, heart, vision, circulatory
and foot problems. The good news is that many of these
potential problems can be minimized as a result of life
style changes, medications and other preventive care.
Amputations, or partial
amputations, of the feet and legs are also growing at
an alarming rate. In fact, it is the leading cause of
non-traumatic amputation in the United States. Recently
a task force was created by officials from Medicare,
the American Podiatric Medical Association and the American
Diabetes Association in order to explore ways to reduce
the number of amputations in the diabetic populations.
The number of these lower extremity amputations grew
by 28% in just the past several years. However, it has
been determined that over half of these amputations
could have been prevented by timely conservative foot
care.
We at Foothills Podiatry, P.A. are authorized Medicare
Suppliers to evaluate, prescribe and dispense high quality
shoes and 3 pairs of removable protective shoe inserts
per calendar year. Many diabetic patients qualify for
this benefit and Medicare will pay 80% of the cost for
the shoes and insoles and your supplemental insurance
should pay the other 20%.
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