Medicare Coverage of Diabetes and Diabetic Testing Supplies

What your Medicare coverage for diabetes includes:

Diabetes is a serious inveterate disease of energy metabolism increasing day by day rapidly that's why public health authorities are calling diabetes an "epidemic". Every year, 800,000 additional cases are diagnosed and nearly $110 billion per year are paid by diabetes Medicare in the US .

Diabetes Medicare is a medical and political health insurance program for people with diabetes. Medicare currently has two parts, A and B. Part A pays for inpatient services for Medicare beneficiaries. Part B pays for physician's services and other services such as outpatient laboratory tests. Coverage varies around the country.

How to get diabetes Medicare coverage

Medicare has local carrier contracts with companies that provide inpatient and outpatient services. If you have medical insurance or Medicare for diabetes, you can receive Medicare reimbursement for diabetes outpatient self-management training to include services furnished in non-hospital-based programs.

Diabetes Medicare helps pay for these services and diabetic supplies for people with diabetes. To qualify for Medicare reimbursement, you need a prescription from your doctor. The prescription should specify the following:

• Diagnosed with diabetes
• Quantity required for test strips and lancets in a month
• What kind of meter you need
• Whether you use insulin or not
• Do you require diabetes screening tests
• How often you have to test your blood sugar
• Do you require medical nutrition therapy services

After getting the prescription, you have to sign a form called an "assignment of benefits" and send it to diabetic Medicare. 

Then your diabetic supply company will do all of the paperwork, submits the paper work to Medicare directly on your behalf and you will get your supplies each month, usually by UPS or Federal Express. 

If you enroll in Medicare after January 1, 2005 , Medicare will provide you a one-time "Welcome to Medicare" physical and counseling about the services and care. Medicare will cover the costs for diabetes screening tests. If you are diagnosed with diabetes, Medicare will continue to pay for A1C tests, whenever prescribed by your doctor.

Diabetic Medicare Coverage

Medicare covers the insulin-treated and non-insulin-treated diabetic supplies including glucose test monitors, blood glucose test trips, lancet devices and lancets, glucose control solutions for checking the accuracy of test strips and monitors, insulin pump supplies and a spring powered device. But it doesn't cover Insulin, syringes, needles, alcohol and alcohol wipes, iodine wipes, urine test strips, betadine and betadine wipes.

Medicare does not cover the entire cost of supplies. It pays 80% of the Medicare approved charge. It doesn't pay shipments of diabetes equipment and supplies.

Medicare now covers retinopathy tests, medical nutrition therapy, Hemoglobin A1C tests, glaucoma screening, Flu and pneumococcal pneumonia shots and dilated eye exams to check for diabetic eye diseases for all people with diabetes.

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 has expanded diabetic Medicare coverage services to include diabetes screening for individuals in the risk groups previously listed or those diagnosed with pre-diabetes. This new benefit will allow coverage of fasting blood glucose test, post-glucose challenge test alone or combined within a 12 month period but not less than 6 months apart.

If you have diabetes-related nerve damage in your feet, and podiatrist or other qualified doctor prescribed, Medicare will cover therapeutic shoes, depth-inlay shoes, custom-molded shoes, shoe inserts and one foot exam every 6 months for people with diabetes who qualify under Medicare Part B.