✅ Medically reviewed by Dr. Thomas Biernacki, DPM — Board-Certified Podiatrist · Last updated April 6, 2026

Just Diagnosed with Diabetes? Here’s What Foot Care Your Insurance Now Covers

A diabetes diagnosis is life-changing — and not just for the obvious reasons. It also unlocks a set of podiatry benefits that weren’t available to you before. Many newly diagnosed patients don’t realize that their insurance now covers regular professional foot care that could prevent amputations, hospitalizations, and serious complications.

Your Diagnosis Unlocks These Benefits

1. Annual Diabetic Foot Exam — FREE with Medicare

Medicare covers one comprehensive diabetic foot examination per year for patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. This exam includes vascular assessment, neurologic testing, skin and nail evaluation, and risk stratification. If you have Medicare, this is now a covered annual benefit.

2. Medically Necessary Nail Care — Covered Every 61 Days

With a documented diabetes diagnosis and qualifying conditions (neuropathy, vascular changes), Medicare and most commercial insurance plans now cover professional nail care approximately every 2 months. Overgrown nails that were previously a self-care task are now a covered medical service — because for a diabetic patient, they’re a potential gateway to infection.

3. Diabetic Therapeutic Shoes — One Free Pair Per Year

Through Medicare’s Therapeutic Shoe Program, qualifying diabetic patients receive one pair of therapeutic shoes plus three pairs of inserts per calendar year. Most patients pay $0-$30 after meeting their deductible. We fit and dispense on-site.

4. Wound Care — Always Covered

If you ever develop a foot wound, blister, or sore, treatment is covered as a medically necessary service — at any frequency required by your clinical condition.

5. Custom Orthotics — Covered When Medically Necessary

Custom orthotics to address diabetic foot deformities, callus formation, or pressure redistribution are covered when properly documented as medically necessary.

What You Should Do Right Now

1. Schedule a baseline diabetic foot examination — even if your feet feel fine today
2. Ask about your therapeutic shoe benefit
3. Get a baseline nerve and circulation assessment
4. Set up regular monitoring visits appropriate to your current risk level

Prevention of diabetic foot complications is far more effective (and less expensive) than treating them after they occur. A $30 copay today could prevent a $500,000 amputation tomorrow.

📞 Newly diagnosed? Call (810) 206-1402 to schedule your baseline diabetic foot exam at our Howell or Bloomfield Hills office.

New Diabetes Diagnosis and Foot Care: Insurance Coverage for Comprehensive Diabetic Foot Exams in Michigan

A new diabetes diagnosis creates immediate podiatric care needs — and immediate insurance coverage for those needs. From the date of a confirmed Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, Medicare Part B and virtually all commercial insurance plans cover annual comprehensive diabetic foot examinations with no cost-sharing barrier when the patient has established peripheral neuropathy with loss of protective sensation. Even for newly diagnosed patients without documented neuropathy, the annual diabetic foot exam is a covered preventive service under most commercial plans. The exam is not routine care — it is a specialized clinical assessment that evaluates for the early signs of the foot complications that, if undetected, lead to the hospitalizations and amputations that diabetes is known for.

Michigan patients with a new diabetes diagnosis should know that the timing of their first podiatric evaluation matters. Early establishment of care — within the first year of diagnosis — documents a baseline neurological and vascular assessment that all subsequent years’ examinations are compared against. Detecting neuropathy early, when it is mild, allows the patient and care team to implement interventions (tight glycemic control, nutritional optimization, protective footwear habits) before significant nerve damage has occurred. Balance Foot & Ankle welcomes newly diagnosed diabetic patients from Livingston County (Howell, Brighton, Hartland) and Oakland County (Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Royal Oak, Birmingham) to establish foot care early. Our diabetic foot care program includes annual exam scheduling, patient education on daily foot inspection, footwear guidance, and coordination with the patient’s endocrinologist or primary care team. Call (810) 206-1402 to schedule your comprehensive diabetic foot evaluation.

Michigan patients can access expert diabetic foot care in Michigan at Balance Foot & Ankle. Our board-certified podiatrists serve Howell (4330 E Grand River) and Bloomfield Hills (43494 Woodward Ave #208). Schedule an appointment online or call (810) 206-1402 for same-week availability.

Medical References & Sources

• American Podiatric Medical Association — Patient Education
• American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society — Foot Conditions

Clinical References

1. Boulton AJ, et al. Comprehensive foot examination and risk assessment. Diabetes Care. 2008;31(8):1679-1685.
2. Singh N, et al. Preventing foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. JAMA. 2005;293(2):217-228.
3. Bus SA, et al. IWGDF guidance on the prevention of foot ulcers in at-risk patients with diabetes. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2016;32(Suppl 1):16-24.

Your Board-Certified Podiatrists

Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM

Board-Certified · FACFAS

Dr. Carl Jay, DPM

Board-Certified Podiatrist

Dr. Daria Gutkin, DPM

Podiatrist

Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM

Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM is a double board-certified podiatrist and foot & ankle surgeon at Balance Foot & Ankle Specialists in Southeast Michigan. With over a decade of clinical experience, he specializes in heel pain, bunions, diabetic foot care, sports injuries, and minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Biernacki is a member of the APMA and ACFAS, and his patient education content on MichiganFootDoctors.com and YouTube has reached over one million views.