Rent or Own???????

I called DME today to see about getting a machine & they told me because of the cost of the machine they mostly rent them with an option to buy & insurance will pay for it. Has anyone gone this route? This is the first time I heard of renting the machine. Is this normal or kind of unusual?

Mr Tired

Don't know about normal, I have always owned mine due to the cost being lower in the long run. I have been in treatment for almost 20 years, and am only on my third machine. I punish them real good running at 18cm...

Check out the prices at cpap.com and then ask yourself again. Should I rent or own ? Guess why the DME told you that most people rent. They hope to make a fortune from you if you rent.

Cheers,

Chris

What the typical DME's do is to "rent" a machine with the monthly rental being about 1/10th or 1/12th of what their inflated purchase price is. Then, at the end of that 10 or 12 months, you "own" the machine that you and your insurance has paid for.....which is two or three times the real cost/price. The insurance may only pay 80%, so your 20% comes close to paying for the machine and the DME has the 80% as his profit. AND, they may set you up with a machine that's been discontinued.....like one tried to do with me.

Keep reading this site and do your homework before making a decision..

Listen to chrisp and the wulfman!

That's the REAL story in many cases.

Between renting a machine for a monyh and buy from my DME the mask, head gear (comes with mask, but still got charged seperate), hose & filter ( comes with the machine) and I should not forget they rented me the heated humidifier (that came with the machine). For about 50.00 less than if I would have ordered everything from cpap.com. So now I own my machine, but no ins.

Toby

Depends on your insurance. Look at your copay. My insurance pays 100% for durable medical equipment so if they want to be stupid enough to rent forever...I really do not care.....except dealing with the DME is a real PIA. You can also play the system, the same way they play you. Every 6 months, I have my doctor change the machine for some obscure medical reason....each time you do that, the 10 month option to buy starts over. I just received a brand new humidifier and 2 new masks about 3 months apart. You really need to know exactly what your insurance will do.......call them and talk directly to the Nurse Representative....bypass the clerks...just keep pushing star on the phone!! If necessary, ask for it in writing from your insurance. If they are going to require a purchase on down the road, line up your facts and prices and get them, in writing, to approve an online purchase at a much lower cost. (keep 100000 copies of each letter because insurance companies have very short memories. Do NOT make a purchase until you are absolutely certain that you have the best equipment for you....even if it means a little out of pocket expense for a few months. You do not want to purchase an APAP if you needed a Bipap. Don't rush in.....check all your options! Good luck!

Guest brings out a good point in favor of renting. Unless you already know for sure which machine suits you best, renting from the DME for a month might let you try out several brands/types.

Of course that depends on how cooperative your DME is about swapping machines, as well as their arrangements with your insurance company about what they will/won't do for you within time periods.

With no insurance, I happily buy my equipment online.

My DME said the same thing and it was as they said I rented for 6 months and then I quit getting bills from them. When I asked the DME why I quit receiving a bill from them I found out that my insurance company opted to buy the machine for me. Hope this helps.

Why might someone want to rent rather than buy?

Another reason might be that you are just starting out and are not sure whether a CPAP is going to benefit you or whether you are going to be able to get used to using CPAP. In that case, it would make financial sense to rent for a month or two to make sure CPAP is something you will be using long term. Otherwise, purchasing a machine from the "get-go" without knowing if you'll be using it long term will end up costing you more.

SnoreNoMore2005