Lincare selling policy?

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deb5217

Lincare selling policy?

Post by deb5217 » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:54 am

I got my first cpap machine from Lincare Sept 29. I just received a bill from them. I called and was told that was my share of the rental then at the end of the three months I will owe 50% of the balance. It will end up costing me 490.00!!!!! I was never told my insurance only covered 50%. Maybe it is my fault for not checking or asking. Plus, when I went in there they brought in one machine and said here you go. I wasn't given an option of a cheaper machine. I'm sure this is the most expensive they sell!! What options do I have?? I am having gastri bypass surgery on Nov 24 and I may not need the machine in a few months, who knows. but I don't want to pay 500 buck for something that I may not need that much longer.. thanks

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cv66er
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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by cv66er » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:06 am

Personally, my relations with Lincare mostly involve a lot of yelling, and refusing to spend money on poor service, but I can't say they're all worthless, just my local one.

After you're done, you will probably be able to sell it at cpapAuction.com or to someone here looking for a spare. What model did they give you?

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by BlackSpinner » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:18 am

First of all you don't WANT the cheapest machine, second the billing rate for all machines is the same for the insurance companies, third - losing weight may only reduce your pressure a bit. There are lots of people who gained weight BECAUSE of their apnea not the other way around.
You want a full data capable machine so you can see your AHI as your weight changes.

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by raggedykat » Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:43 am

Yeah, my experience with Lincare is bad too. I am still fighting with them to get an itemized statement before I pay the total bill. Before cpap my doctor made me get an oxygen concentrator to use. Lincare said that it would be $35.00 a month and I had it from May 28 through August 2 and they are billing me for four months. The lady refuses to understand that you don't count the time I had by, May, June, July and August. Four Months! I figured the daily rate and sent them a check for the total by days that I had the machine. They ignored my letter and sent me a statement for the balance. When I call I never get to speak to anyone and they call me back at my house during the day even when I leave my work number so I never get the message till it is too late to return the call. I went to someone else to get my cpap machine.
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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by Wulfman » Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:48 am

deb5217 wrote:I got my first cpap machine from Lincare Sept 29. I just received a bill from them. I called and was told that was my share of the rental then at the end of the three months I will owe 50% of the balance. It will end up costing me 490.00!!!!! I was never told my insurance only covered 50%. Maybe it is my fault for not checking or asking. Plus, when I went in there they brought in one machine and said here you go. I wasn't given an option of a cheaper machine. I'm sure this is the most expensive they sell!! What options do I have?? I am having gastri bypass surgery on Nov 24 and I may not need the machine in a few months, who knows. but I don't want to pay 500 buck for something that I may not need that much longer.. thanks
Yep! Big mistake.......far too many people don't do their homework when investigating what they're being sold.....with regard to THIS therapy. I've often said that most people put more time and research into buying cell phones, TVs, and other electronic products than they do with something that they're going to sleep with EVERY night for the rest of their lives.

I'd also venture to guess that they DID give you one of the "cheapest" (few features) machines available. They make more profit that way because the insurance will pay exactly the same amount regardless of which machine is given to the patient......the insurance code is the same for all CPAP machines.

What on earth makes you think that you won't need your machine after your surgery? It was probably the Sleep Apnea that put the weight on.......and not necessarily that gaining weight "caused" the Sleep Apnea.


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raggedykat
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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by raggedykat » Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:59 am

What on earth makes you think that you won't need your machine after your surgery? It was probably the Sleep Apnea that put the weight on.......and not necessarily that gaining weight "caused" the Sleep Apnea.

I found out from my first sleep study that I needed a pacemaker. I thought that after I got it my sleep apnea would be cured. Boy was I wrong! I had another sleep study done and my numbers were ever worse. And like wulfman said, it was probably the sleep apnea that caused my heart condition in the first place.
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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by JeffH » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:05 am

My experience, Lincare sucks. They send out all their supplies from Florida and they NEVER got my order right. Keep sending me pillows for a Swift II, not the LT. Happened three times before I said forget it and went somewhere else.


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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by sleepyinstlouis » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:14 pm

I just went through some Lincare hell of my own. They haven't been submitting the paperwork properly to my insurance so imagine my surprise at getting a nearly $1500 bill for the portion my insurance didn't cover. I had to conference them in to get it straightened out (why?). Because the insurance wasn't paying (due to Lincare's negligence in submitting the paperwork properly), I wasn't getting my supplies. My last shipment was at the end of July.

I got a big box from them today of all the stuff that I haven't gotten since then, including the redesigned Comfortgel Mask.

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by Citizen » Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:07 pm

Lincare is a joke on the billing side. If you ask me they are the poster child for what's wrong with our health care system. Over priced, poor service with late orders, wrong orders, and messed up billing. Their local staff have to be dealt with like a game of Jenga. Unless you speak to the correct combination of people and in the right order on the perfect day and time you'll end up with the wrong answer to what should be simple billing questions. If you ask me they are so insulated by our health insurance that they just don't care about us. Their customer is our insurance company and not us. I just asked for a mask and got everything but a mask. I got it late. I am sure this will create a billing mess. No doubt in my mind that it will. What would fix this? Besides an obvious fire bombing? I think I would like to by my supplies at Amazon. I got my CPAP and have never had anyone ask to see the data from the machine. I have had bills, calls about bills, offers to sell me supplies on a regular basis without so that I wouldn't have to call and ask for them. The suction coming from the billing side of the health care industry is immense. Between the maw suits, over priced care and products, high wages for health care workers, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies, the government trillions of our dollars are hung up in what is screaming to be policed. We don't need Obama Care. We need consumers put back in the loop. Insurance companies do a piss poor job of controlling costs when you compare them to the hundreds of millions of people who could hold prices down when they would be allowed to have a choice of insurance company, provider, services, therapies, products, supplies and so forth. If anyone knows another way to get CPAP supplies cheaper please let me know and I will pass it on.

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by chunkyfrog » Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:16 pm

I don't regret anything I've bought from cpap.com.
Especially the S9 Autoset that only cost me $853--100% out of pocket.
Best flex money I ever spent!
Using my DME is like playing a slot machine, only less fun for more money.

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by retrodave15 » Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:40 pm

A few of you out there were probably thinking "how long is it going to take RetroDave to sniff out that there was a new thread about his FAVORITE DME?"

I even have some updates regarding Lincare and there billing policies.

I had been getting random bills from when we used Lincare for my wife's O2 concentrator, portable O2, and eventually CPAP we fired them for poor service and other issues. All equipment was picked up by a Lincare rep.

I could never make heads or tails of their bills, match them up to claims on my insurance, yet the were getting nasty with me as they said I owed them money. With United Heath Care I do not pay a bill until the claim has been settled my insurance company and tells me the exact amount I am to pay. I actually tell providers to refer to their contract with United when they try to shake me down at the door, except if it is a normal copay.

Back to Lincare, on Thursday I worked from home so I was able to deal with some other issues like this without some of my office cube-mates prairie dogging and digging into my personal affairs. So I was talking with a very nice rep from United and she was helping we to resolve the billing issue with Lincare as I had reached my out of pocket max for the year and did not think I owed them a red cent and I was tired of their "collection calls". She put me on hold and called Lincare and then briefly spoke to them, then came back and said she would return my call later that day or on Friday.

On Friday this is what I had found out:
I had 4 bills from Lincare, dating back from August
Lincare had only submitted 1 claim in November, that was for the August claim
The other "bills" were "informational" and never submitted to United - but they looked pretty real to me.

Then the kicker, United informed Lincare that since they were so slow in submitting the claim for the CPAP my wife got in October and returned in November that they would not be paid in any form as we had already purchased a machine outright from a new DME. It is the early bird that gets paid.

I can't wait for a bill from Lincare now - sucks to be them.

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by HoseCrusher » Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:58 pm

While Lincare may have regional problems, my local office has done a pretty good job. The RT assigned to me has been a wealth of information, and has been very informative on how to read my data. I tend to destroy the small hose on my Swift FX, and they have provided replacements many times. I am not sure of the billing, but in my particular case their service has been top notched.

As always, your mileage may vary.

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by Randyp1234 » Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:30 am

deb5217 wrote:I got my first cpap machine from Lincare Sept 29. I just received a bill from them. I called and was told that was my share of the rental then at the end of the three months I will owe 50% of the balance. It will end up costing me 490.00!!!!! I was never told my insurance only covered 50%. Maybe it is my fault for not checking or asking. Plus, when I went in there they brought in one machine and said here you go. I wasn't given an option of a cheaper machine. I'm sure this is the most expensive they sell!! What options do I have?? I am having gastri bypass surgery on Nov 24 and I may not need the machine in a few months, who knows. but I don't want to pay 500 buck for something that I may not need that much longer.. thanks
Given Lincare's history you should personally check with your insurance company and verify everything
Lincare is telling you.

Randy

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by retrodave15 » Sun Jan 29, 2012 12:38 pm

raggedykat wrote:Yeah, my experience with Lincare is bad too. I am still fighting with them to get an itemized statement before I pay the total bill. Before cpap my doctor made me get an oxygen concentrator to use. Lincare said that it would be $35.00 a month and I had it from May 28 through August 2 and they are billing me for four months. The lady refuses to understand that you don't count the time I had by, May, June, July and August. Four Months! I figured the daily rate and sent them a check for the total by days that I had the machine. They ignored my letter and sent me a statement for the balance. When I call I never get to speak to anyone and they call me back at my house during the day even when I leave my work number so I never get the message till it is too late to return the call. I went to someone else to get my cpap machine.
Use your insurance company to mediate the dispute for you. Most insurance companies have a billing dispute resolution department. United did that for me and did some explaining to the Lincare Billing department about who owed who and what they owed.

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Re: Lincare selling policy?

Post by chunkyfrog » Sun Jan 29, 2012 12:54 pm

Thanks Retrodave, for the positive info about United.
My hubby wants to consider them for our Medicare supplemental;
but my experience with them at work several years ago has left me hesitant to even want to consider them in another context.

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