Liam graduated out of his SureSteps a couple of weeks ago. He dumped a carton of yogurt on one and it was a sticky mess. His PT and I decided to give him a trial period without the SureSteps to see how he responded. There has been no difference in his walking when he's wearing them and when he's not.
The SureSteps didn't make much difference in his pronation of his ankles though. They still pronate pretty badly. He also curls his toes, like he's trying to grip the ground, when he walks barefoot. His PT suggested we use a different orthotic called Leap Frogs. They have a specialized toe pad made just for that toe curling business.
Last week, the PT quoted the Leap Frogs at $550. Expensive, but cheaper than the SureSteps. Our insurance still has not paid for the SureSteps (that's more than a year, but our insurance is a long boring story). I Googled the Leap Frogs to read a little bit more about them. I found the webstore for them. Guess how much they cost? Take a guess. Seriously.
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Ready for it? $75/foot. So $75 x 2 = $150. $150 is cheaper than $550. I asked his PT why the price difference. It's $550 if we go through insurance, $150 for self-pay. What? Seriously, why? Why a $400 price difference?
If, and it's a big if, our insurance covered them and assuming the co-pay is 10%, our price out of pocket would be $55.
If we use our ARC funding and self-pay, our cost out of pocket is $15.
It's enough to make you crazy. We're going the self-pay route.
This also doesn't explain the 3-4 week wait to receive them if we use insurance, but only a week or so wait to receive them if we self-pay.
Crazy. Or as Liam would say, "Silly, nuts, and funny."
It’s a racket, I tell ya! I’m glad you checked into them on your own. Holy smokes–I’d never have guessed ortho shoes were so expensive!
Just mentioning ankles makes me want to cry. So confusing.
One of our PTs told me that SureSteps are more custom-fit. Not totally custom but they use more measurements than DAFO (which is what those LeapFrogs are.)
If you have too many problems with your insurance you can always get all your papers together (showing where insurance is supposed to pay – their paperwork, show where they denied, where you contacted them and any appeals that have been filed) and then file a claim with your State’s Department of Insurance. Then the insurance can be fined for violating policies, etc. Great way to make them pay for what they are supposed to pay for anyway. Been there, done that.
The past two years Nick has had custom orthotics which are $1,800 more or less. But, he’s walking really well but still pronates when walking bare footed. I’m thinking shoe inserts might work. Need to see the ortho Dr. soon.
Why does this not surprise me???