peeved

[rootofnewt]

according to my insurance paperwork, food orthotics are not considered medically necessary devices.

*blink*

i suppose they'd rather pay for a wheelchair and painkillers for the rest of my life.

i mean, sure, having an abnormally long second metatarsal is sufficiently common that the foot guru ortho surgeon spotted it immediately, but it's still an abnormal skeletal feature which results in significant pain and disability.

boy pointed out that insurance companies don't believe in preventative care in general, no matter what they claim. this isn't preventative, though, this is the *solution* to my pain and lack of mobility.

ah, well. boy says we'll pay for the orthotics no matter what. he wants me walking comfortably. i'd rather not worry about where the money comes from. i'd rather he not cash in bonds he received at birth to pay for this. :(

i tried to call the insurance company, but their customer service hours are M-F, 8-6. Now, i don't work, but most folks with insurance probably do. This means that the insurance company expects you to contact them about potentially embarassing (or job-endangering) illnesses WHILE AT WORK. that's insane. i suspect they do this to discourage folks from calling about denied benefits... to encourage customers to suck up and pay for stuff that insurance should have covered...

ah, well. as boy points out, managed care is one of the most vile of the necessary evils in our life.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, no hardware is considered medically necessary, whether it is or isn't actually necessary. Some insurance specifically excludes all hardware.

Some insurance is just fussy. Mine wouldn't cover Celebrex for ages. It is expensive, but they wanted me to continue naproxen or ibuprofen, even though I'd been on them for a long time and was getting stomach pain, and my doctor considered me at risk for gastric bleeding. It was almost as if the company would have preferred to pay for stomach repair than Celebrex.

[sabethea.livejournal.com]

according to my insurance paperwork, food orthotics are not considered medically necessary devices.

am i being thick, or do you mean foot orthotics?

sounds terribly painful, but if you've found something that will really help, then i hope you can manage to go for it.

erm, yeah.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

peeved newts don't spell-check. ;)

yes, foot orthotics.

once upon a time, i had an insurance clan that covered foot orthotics. mine will cover them if i'm diabetic or an amputee.

i could probably *make* myself a diabetic fairly easily... but that would be stupid.

[sheilamarie.livejournal.com]

I think most insurance companies do not cover ortodicts of any kind. The three I've worked with do not as well as a couple of others I've known. Just wanted to let you know that its not just HMO's, its PPO and Indemnity plans as well. I hate the insurance industry.

yeah, i know...

[krasota.livejournal.com]

i've had insurance companies (PPO and indemnity) which covered mouth splints for TMJ (since it's not dental, it's orthopoedic) and ones that did not... most now specifically exclude any TMJ treatment, which i think is a load of hogwash. my TMJ is pretty much a non-issue now (after five years of wearing mouth splints), but if it recurrs, it sucks to know i'll have to treat it out of pocket. those mouthpieces are EXPENSIVE and i went through quite a few (my jaw exerted an insane amount of pressure on the acrylic polymers... my doctor told me the lab LIKED me, not because i gave them so much money, but because i was an excuse to create better polymers.)...

i just think it's insane that foot orthotics for diabetics suffering from neuropathy and circulation problems are covered, but orthotics for me (some kind of neuropathy and ass-long foot bones) are not.

maybe i should sue for metatarsal discrimination. ;)

Re: yeah, i know...

[laverick.livejournal.com]

How strange. I bought my last pair of orthotics myself, but I figured insurance companies would cover that to prevent more frequent and severe medical probs down the line. I have completely flat feet with has put stress of my knees for it seems like forever, esp doing athletics. My feet still kill standing up for awhile, with or without orthotics. Do you have any corresponding health probs that you can refer to to strengthen your claim for insurance to cover it?

TMJ is a pain. I switched back and forth between physicians and dentists before someone diagnosed me, and then I had to pay for my splint out of pocket too, which was another ridiculously expensive device that sometimes seems to not help at all.

Good luck with everything! SOunds like you have so much going on with CTS and your feet and all. I totally empathize. ((hugs))