Knee Braces Medically approved ?

I have been using PODs for some years, including having them on when I did my ACL and medial (Braces tend not to do much for rotation, only hyperextension). They are supposed to be designed by an Oz orthopod so maybe they can supply the paperwork for you?

Steve

On the POD webpage it says they are medically approved, and when I bought mine my medical covered them too.

Don't know if you have them over there but there is a company called DonJoy. www.DonJoy.com . I know in the USA they are medically approved.

eyspy said:

Does anyone out there know what brand knee braces in Australia are medically approved ? i.e. can be claimed back on health insurance such as Mutual Community.
I rang Mutual Community and they say for me to get subsidised, the brace supplier has to have a 'provider number' and be 'orthopedic' approved.

My knees are F****d ! and it's long overdue that I wear knee braces. Mutual community will cover me for 80% of the cost up to a max of $500 per year (Good news for me)

My first idea was to get a set of CTi custom fitted braces (good reports all round on these), but after Mutual Community checked with them, they did not have a provider number meaning they are NOT medically approved (Why do they go under the name Gall Brothers Medical then ??)

Now I am stumped as to what brand to use ?? Any help much appreciated.........

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Contact Gally.

He will be able to give you accurate information. NEVER rely on your insurance company to research something for you that Will Cost Them Money. :angry:

Unless you have bent /twisted legs (like me), nowadays there are a lot of very good, off the shelf braces. I wish I could get any number of those, as I've never been able to get a good fit with the custom CTIs, even when I've had them fitted to me in California. And many of them look like they would give more support than the custom CTIs. Still , I have 3 pairs, one from 1988, 1 from 1998, 1 from 2008. Ironically, the 1988 ones are those that I still use the most, as they somehow fit the best over my chicken legs.

The provider / Item number is all important - that's how it goes here. And fair enough too. But getting a number that will go through the computer ("computer says....No" :mrgreen: ) is what it's all about.

After one of my many knee operations, I went in to claim from my insurer, to be told the synthetic ligament had no number - provider or other that could be applied to it. It was quite a few thousand dollars. I remained calm, contacted my doctor, who gave me the number (for an approved item - the one he'd used, did not have a number yet) I went back, saw the same ****, who I'd been very nice to, gave her the new number, and got the amount allocated to it. Less than what was used cost me, but still a few grand left in my pocket. It may come down to getting a brace with the correct number, or, if you can claim and get the money paid to you, provide the number for an approved item, and getting what you want. Be very careful though - fraud can get you onto trouble. It may also come down to you having to get your Ortho to fill in paperwork.