Medicare members, do you also get such emails re supply?

This is obviously a ploy for money! I've not received such a letter... at least not yet. I'm quite sure Medicare does NOT require you to reply to this letter. Call Medicare... should be interesting.

Is this from a company with whom you have an existing relationship? Otherwise they could be in trouble. If you know them then they are probably compliant with something you've signed...

AVI,

Knowing how uppity Nationwide Medical had become when I parted ways with them, this email doesn't surprise me. I switched to a local DME because they informed me they would only provide certain masks, and they would send me the type nasal pillow mask they had available. Same for my hubby, they would provide him with the type of FFM they had available. I informed them we no longer required their services.

In light of your email, if you plan to continue using them, you may want to verify with them which mask they will be providing you.

Personally, with regards to the email, I think they are walking a thin line with Medicare. The 'survey' is designed to meet Medicare's guidelines for the patient to 'request' supplies. I say a thin line because they apparently are going to use your reply as a 'request' for supplies. I'm not sure Medicare would agree that a reply to an email is a 'request'.

If I had stayed with them & had received this email, I would probably have forwarded a copy to Medicare, then searched for a new DME.

If you contact Medicare I would be interested in what they have to say on this email/survey process.

Jen

I don't believe Medicare allows soliciting from DMEs to Medicare Members. From what I understand you must call them when you need something. I would report them to Medicare.

I think they will claim this is just "refill admin". They have attorneys on staff who vet this stuff, I'll bet.

No, not with my DME provider in Western Washington. They do dot push products per the allowed Medicare schedule. To do so would be against Medicare rules. The questionnaire is just trolling for data not required by law, nor really needed by the DME.

Just my two cents.

englandsf wrote:I think they will claim this is just "refill admin". They have attorneys on staff who vet this stuff, I'll bet.

Good point, their attorney's probably believe this will pass for a 'request'. Since I am a taxpayer who has paid for years to receive Medicare, I don't like Nationwide's underhanded approach. But I don't have to like it, it just has to 'pass' as meeting the Medicare guideline for a 'request'. Nationwide Medical is a huge company & they won the Medicare competitive bid last year, so they picked up lots of new clients in the process. They may be able to 'rationalize' this email approach as a cost saving/streamlining method.

Jen

I came very close to switching to Nationwide a few months ago. I received the stuff they wanted me to sign - must have been 10 pages of stuff - and I just didn't like the questions they were asking. I remember thinking they were asking questions that weren't relevant to sleep apnea supplies. So glad I didn't get sucked in.

Yikes!
My current DME asked if I would like to be reminded; I said OK, but I may only get filters next month,
as my pillows are lasting longer than I expected.
I would think that if doctor's prescription says "mask of patient's choice", they shouldn't send anything you don't want.

Explanation:

This Nationwide Medical, Inc. (a DME), in Los Angeles, was trusted upon me (and others) by my local original DME (here in NC) who supplied my first CPAP machine. It was done per the Medicare’s new competitive bidding program for Durable Medical Equipment. I take a guess that there was some payment involved b/c my local DME has chosen this new DME and dumped me automatically into it and the owners of my original DME would do lots of things for money, even run a sleep study lab on the top floor of the building.

So far it's going OK and I get ahead six months supply of my masks with cushions, Slimline hoses, and filters for the S9 CPAP machine. I am wondering if they will replace my old rented CPAP (it was the S9 Elite) after 5 years and if I could add some cash and get a new S9 Autoset instead?

I don't like those questions. Last time I refused to answer them and I emailed them about it that if they don't send me my supply without replying to the questions I will contact another DME, geographically closer to me. There was no problem and I got my supply on time.