Well, I fractured my femur through and now have a steel rod in my leg.

[Irish_Dem]

53. The medicare rules about ortho equipment are strict, so it gets a bit weird.

You will see what I mean.

For example you are probably going to be sent home with a walker.
Which Medicare will pay for. My first broken bone I was given a walker.
Afterwards I gave it away to a friend who needed one.

Then I broke another bone and found out that Medicare only pays
for a walker once every five years.
So I was on the hook for the second walker.

Yes you are right, it is crazy. In both our cases we were given the wrong equipment
or it didn't fit property and resulted in broken bones. It is all about money and bad care.

I myself am very skeptical of any ortho equipment given to me by an ER doc. I have osteoporosis
so I break bones. I once had an ankle break and the ER doc gave me a small boot and brace.
I went to see my beloved Physical Therapist and he took one look and said it was piece of crap and
took off the brace and threw it in the trash. He said I would break my neck walking with it. He gave me
something else to replace it that felt much better and actually fit. And I was able to walk well with it
and had no problems.

Oh I should also let you know. Once you are on Medicare and break a bone with surgery,
somehow you get on a phone sales list. You will be getting calls from people sounding like
they are from Medicare and want to send you a leg brace and things like that.
They are not from medicare, it is a scam. They send you stuff and it is billed to medicare.
Which then causes problems when you need legit equipment because you have used up your
equipment allotment.

Also I checked with my surgeon who was angry and said surgeons do not want their broken
leg patients on long term leg braces. The bone and muscles cannot start working and heal correctly.
So make sure to only take advice and equipment from your surgeon's office and from your personal
physical therapists.