Encore Pro - Has anyone ever had insur. pay for it?

I got a prescription for Encore Pro, then found it on line, so I just bought it, rather than battle Medicrap. Sometimes I feel like they hire people off that TV ad with David Spade --"NO" is all they have to be able to say. OK, pity party over. I have been on hold with Medidumb for 16 minutes.

I am curious to see if any of you, WITH a prescription, have had ANY insurance company buy Encore Pro for you.

OR, put another way -- after the next change comes in, the only place I guess I can buy this at is a DME with Bricks around it. So I am asking in advance if ANY of us have convinced a DME to purchase it. Prescription or not.

EDIT: 34 minutes on hold now, wonder what the record is? Almost time for a congressional complaint. Sometimes they will give us a real phone number so we will quit filing congressional complaints - maybe if congress would hire more people, medicare could really help us. Hmmm Rant #2 over.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Encore Pro, DME, Prescription

I wanted Encore Pro 1.8i.65 and talked to my Doc who said OK and wrote a script for it. I took it to 4 DME's and they all refused to sell it to me. Said Respronics would not allow it to be sold to the patient. One told me if they sold it Respronics would pull their license to sell Respronics Products.

Jerry

EDIT: I said that wrong originally. I have already talked to Apria and they WILL sell it to me. This post might explain the posting after this one. My apoligies for not making it clear. If I had added this sentence, this posting would have made better sense.

You have one of two problems, and please feel free to read this posting to your DME people. They are lazy or incompetent. Please notice I did NOT say stupid.

I have personally talked with Respironics and they told me they would sell the software to a DME. Apria is in the process of getting it for me. If your DME people tried to find out, they might have a better answer for you.

The call to Respironics was done by finding their customer service number in their website.

Well, Medicare's system has sent me to general questions three times when I asked for Claims. Hello Diane Feinstein.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, medicare, DME

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, medicare, DME

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, medicare, DME

Just because Respironics has told you they will sell it to the DME's doesn't mean that the DME WILL sell it to you. If you don't have it in your possession then you still can't be certain you can get your hands on it. Especially from Apria and the stories that have been told on here about them.

I am pretty sure you can buy the EncoreViewer from the DME's as cpap.com has it and there was one on cpapauction.com. Have you tried getting the EncoreViewer from the DME?

I am confused if you already have purchased it online why do you need another copy of Encore Pro?

I bought 1.6, then I needed 1.8.65 and could still buy it on the internet, so I paid for it. I have bought two copies myself, but buying on the internet is not possible now. I figure next I will need 1.9x or whatever.

I have spoken with Respironics and Apria. Respironics will sell it to me and Apria says they will sell it to me with a prescription. I have a prescription. I spoke with the Customer Service manager of our local branch, They said they WILL sell it to me.

BUT -- that may be because I am using the Respironics BiPap Auto SV and they don't know much about it yet.

Respironics does NOT want to talk to you or me. They do NOT have the staff for it and probably don't want the liability. But would they have more liability if they sell a machine to DMEs whose staff have not been trained on it yet? Or would they be better off to use some common sense and talk to me? I am only speaking for the SV users. I asked if ANYONE else in Northern Calif. was using the SV and was told no. As for this forum, to my knowledge we have 2 users now, out of the thousands of members. Partly due to what the machine does and maybe due to expense. Be very happy you don't need it.

What good is the world's best (?) machine if you can't get people trained on it for a year? How big of a staff would it take to train the hundreds of DMEs? I know they might go to San Francisco and all the DMEs from Northern Calif. would send a rep. That is worth about 2 cents to me because our best RT has been on loan to the Bay Area for weeks now. See what I am trying to say? Why develop a machine you can't sell for months? Just a theory, but it is about all that makes sense based on conversations I have had.

I wonder if ANY of our RTs who visit this site have been trained on it yet? If they take the time to check in on us, I think that puts them in the top ten percent because anyone who spends enough time to come here, would probably spend enough time while AT work to be the best they can be. No?

All theory, ok, mostly theory. Some of that is based on conversations I have had with professionals in the field. But if my insurance will buy it in the future, I feel I have done my share already.

As for the stories about Apria. I have to be careful, I don't want to hurt some people's feelings, but I GET TERRIFIC SERVICE FROM APRIA. If you do not get good service from them, read my postings on how to get it. It is very, very simple.


EDIT: I am mainly trying to find out if anyone, under any circumstances has been able to get the insurance company to pay for Encore Pro. I have Medicare and Tricare For Life. Tricare pays for a lot Medicare won't cover.
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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, bipap, DME, auto

If u r interested in reports from the New Encore Viewer from Respironics I can run it for you and Email you the reports.

Using the utility at http://www.mycpap.com you copy your SmartCard to disk and Email me the file to UPMCPAP@hotmail.com .

All you need to buy in that case is the card reader only. That's all.

Sam

Thank you Sam, that is very kind of you. I have Encore Pro 1.6 and 1.8.65
(at least I think that is the number). I have bought both programs, but was curious to see if Medicare would pay for the next one.

I tried making a "back up" copy and even gave the program to a friend who is VERY good with computers. But the Back Up did not work. I did not take it back to him, I just told him it didn't work for me. So I hope this program stays healthy.

Again, thank you for such a nice offer.....Dave

Odd, the system did not automatically let me in. Sorry about that, bad night last night. Restless Legs Syndrome and just couldn't breathe well, even the SV couldn't push the air through. THAT really concerns me.

You said there are two folks with this machine. Add me to the list. I got my first full night's sleep on the machine last night, 6.5 hours. I attribute some of it to trading my machine in. The first one they sent me was acting up. This one was great. And doesn't seem to have a bad "new machine smell" like the other one did either.

I advise anyone who is having trouble with theirs, especially if it is several hours into sleep, to check and make sure it isn't the machine instead of them.

I plan to buy a reader and get the software, so I am watching closely to see what y'all come up with. I have my follow up with my pulmonologist in about a month. I'll need the right words to get him to prescribe it for me.

I REALLY want to get to my sleep numbers, AHI especially. I have a couple of different sleep modes and I'd like to know when I exhibit which mode. Some nights it's mostly OSA, some night's it seem to be mostly Central. Sometimes I actually sleep pretty well without any assistance. I need to see if I can find some lifestyle factors that contribute to the problems and the only way I can think to do that is to get to my data.

Take care and please keep me on the list for anything that comes up regarding this machine.

Thanx,

Talyn

dllfo wrote:
> I GET TERRIFIC SERVICE FROM APRIA.

Hard to believe.

> If you do not get good service from them, read my postings

What is the subject line of that thread?