Thanks folks! Pretty good news so far. I had AHI >50 during my PSG, and it's averaged 1.2 over the last week or so. I would like to figure out whether there's anything that can be done about the CAs, since they're the part that scares my wife the most. But yeah, mostly good so far!

Thanks to Pugsy for helping me find both documentation for my machine and helping me understand my software options. The central apnea thing is freaking my wife out a little bit, but I already feel vindicated in my desire to gain access to the data and to manage my own health.

Thanks again!

I'm happy to report that while I'm not sure my PCP understood my desire to have access to these data, she had no problem writing me a more specific Rx, down to the exact model number. Global Sleep, once they had the new Rx, gave me no problems, cheerfully exchanging my REMstar Plus for a PR System O...

I'm starting to learn that in the cpap community there is a perception that dme's are the equivalent of used car dealers, be very skeptical of them and take everything they tell you with a big grain of salt. Not all. Just the ones you hear the most about. My DME has been great. Yes, they gave me a ...

Cigna just informed me in no certain terms that their contract does not allow charges in excess of the negotiated amount. So that's good to know.

She's "going to check if there will be an extra charge for you." Heh...

Promising so far. I just sent over a scan of the Rx. The lady sounded reasonable this time, saying they just need to check stock levels before setting up an appointment to switch. I'll keep updating here.

Thanks to all of you folks for motivating me to follow through on this.

She was a little funny towards the end of our visit. I was explaining that there's only one code for xPAP machines and thus the DME would give you the cheapest machine possible to maximize profit. She made an expression of mock surprise and said, "They would do that?" So, yeah, it was encouraging.

OK, saw the doctor today. I kind of got the impression that she doesn't know just a whole lot about this condition, and that she didn't exactly see what the big deal is. Despite that, she readily agree to write a specific Rx for any machine I wanted. So I now have a Rx for a PR System One REMstar Au...

Even if Texas law does not prohibit balance billing, the DME's provider agreement with your insurance company almost certainly does. I'm more concerned with the lack of guidelines on returns. Ah well...all speculation. I'm off to the doctor's office. Thanks for ALL the input. I'll keep ya posted.

My reading this afternoon has me doubting whether this is going to work out. You see, I live in Texas, a state notorious for its lack of effective consumer protection laws. One of your articles talked about the fact that 47 of 50 states have made the practice of balance-billing illegal...Texas is on...

Yep, that's exactly my understanding. A careful review of all the paperwork from when I picked up the CPAP from them reveals NO information about a return/exchange policy. So that's interesting.

OK, I checked with Cigna and got details on my coverage using the very helpful questions in Janknitz's article. Cigna does not discriminate between machines -- "Whichever machine the doctor orders." Do you read this to mean that if the original Rx says only "CPAP machine, hose, mask, humidifier" tha...

Awesome information from everyone. I'm very likely to pop by my doctor's office tomorrow. I called today to get them to make copies of all my sleep study paperwork, so I'll probably just ask them if I can see the Rx for the CPAP as well so I know what was ordered. And then I'll get back to work on g...

If I manage to work things out where I can get whatever machine I want under my insurance, is there some potential future benefit to having the System One APAP machine versus the CPAP machine?