How to buy an effective orthotic

@lolaemma, I see that this is your first post on Connect, and I want to welcome you. Mayo Clinic is an online community where patientss share their experiences and support each other.
You raise an interesting point - that Medicare and many insurances do not pay for some of the assisting devices that we need as we age. It is my understanding that some patients go without a device that they need and the result is that their health and mobility are affected. I do not use custom orthotics, but I do use a nonprescription insert and found it to be cheaper at my provider's office than at the shoe store where I had been buying them.

How did you discover that you could buy directly from the orthotic company? Did you have any difficulty with them providing what your doctor ordered? What advice do you have for someone just beginning their search?

Could you give some clues as to where you found these orthotic makers? Did you just google "orthotic maker"?

Hanger orthopedics is in many locations. You can search custom orthopedics. I offered Hanger cash payments same as Medicare pays in 2017 it was $350. On amazon paid $150 direct from maker. The same method you stand in a low box that has damp foam in it to get your correct correction necessary for you. Hanger uses the same one.
You send it back. In the bag supplied and wait for it. I always as for a black cover because it's easy for me to get them dirty. This way I have bought one a year so that I have a plastic one from Hanger for water shoes to get in and out of water excersizes another in each of two pairs of shoes I use. Long explanation but needed to counter the. demand we only buy through the system. We all have work a rounds to conserve our resources. If you have diabetes most insurance and Medicare pay for custom. orthotics. I had one leg half inch shorter from birth injury. It's made a big difference in my life to be able to walk securely.