I got my Vantage back!!!

[echo]

Thanks, guys and gals, for all your help! You have all had to put up with me ranting and raving like a lunatic for two days! Bless you!

I don't think I've been able to give you much advice on the whole DME/Insurance thing, but I HAVE been on the edge of my seat every day waiting for your updates !!!

I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I read that you;re getting your other machine back! Though I agree with the others that the extra $300 sounds almost like a scam. You've gotten this far, if I were you I would go the extra mile and try to avoid the additional fee. I mean what do they think this is, a CPAP flea market where you have to bargain for the right treatment??? Sending you all my be$t wi$he$....

[drummergirl410]

Thanks, guys and gals, for all your help! You have all had to put up with me ranting and raving like a lunatic for two days! Bless you!

I don't think I've been able to give you much advice on the whole DME/Insurance thing, but I HAVE been on the edge of my seat every day waiting for your updates !!!

I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I read that you;re getting your other machine back!...

________________

Wow! Thanks! I had no idea that my battle with the DME would be so interesting to others! Makes me feel better about sharing it!

Last night want really well!

The straight CPAP setting with EPR they have it on is not quite as comfortable as the auto, but it is WAAAAY better than straignt CPAP on the Compact! I had no aeorphalgia at all. There were never any signs of rainout and there was only about an inch of water gone from the humidifier chamber, just like before. (With the Compact, there was an inch gone in the one hour that I used it, and condensation all over the hoses and mask with absolutely NO change to the humidifer setting!) I can understand why they say the EPR doesn't work at pressures under 10 on the website, a disclaimer perhaps. But upon trying it, I found that indeed it does, at least for me. I ended up setting in on a 3 before going to sleep. I also let the machine ramp up, just to see the effect. I may disable that later on. I went to sleep in about the same time it took me to fall asleep with the auto on. I slept VERY well and got in probably ten or eleven good hours. It was refreshing after only getting les than four hours of sleep on the pervious night. I hit REM a couple of different times. I remember dreaming, but not what I dreamed.

I think I'm going to keep this setting until I go back to the doctor and we can talk about it further. I still may end up persuading him to let me go back to auto with a narrow range, but at least for now I can be reasonably comfortable and compliant again!

[sleephunter]

Wow! Thanks! I had no idea that my battle with the DME would be so interesting to others! Makes me feel better about sharing it!

Although I haven't chimed in on this thread at all I can honestly say I have been on the edge of my seat as well.

One reason is I am in the same position waiting to get my RemStar M Series Auto A-Flex and its supposed to be arriving on Monday (replacement for the basic RemStar Plus I was given without any information).

Always feel good about sharing your experiences. There are people who normally don't respond who are still VERY interested in what's going on

Thanks again for letting me hear your story !

[Guest]

Awww, thank you so much!

If it saves someone else from going through what I did, it's worth it! I hope things go well for you with the new Remstar auto machine! I hear that one is a good machine as well!

[drummergirl410]

Gee, I manage to get through this far with no log-in difficulties.. and now it starts!

[sleeep]

My DME Tried the same crap.

They told me a Remstar auto (which cost 600)would cost me 500 more.
They gave me a remstar plus(which cost 300) and said this is all my insurance would cover.
I gave them the remstar plus back and told them I wanted a remstar auto for no extra charge or I will get my machine from a Halfway honest DME.
They agreed and gave me a brand new respironics auto for no extra charge.

Heres why.
Ins rents machine for 3 months at 250 a month, thats 750 for the dme and 75 dollars cost for me, my 10%

after 3 months, rental is converted to a purchase.
Dme charges insurance 2200.00 for machine and insurance company discounts that bill down to 1300.00 of which i have to pay 130.000
The DME has got 750.00 rent and 1300.00 totalling 2050.00 for a machine that cost 450.00 wholesale. thats 1600.00 profit
why did they try to stick me with a remstar plus ?
a remstar plus cost a dme 200.00, so the dme makes an extra 250.00 if the stick you with a cheaper machine.

insurance pays same amount for cpap or apap.

If you wrecked your BMW and your ins company sent a 50,000.00 check to a car dealer for a new car, the car dealer would tell you insurance doesnt cover new bmw's Heres your new yugo
most dme's are more dishonest than car dealers.
when I asked my dme the price of a cpap or mask they said they could not tell me the price without checking with my insurance first. which means the price is the max of what my insurance will pay

Look at the prices at cpap.com before you purchase any equipment
They are honest, and give you the price upfont.
my dme wanted 500 more plus insurance money for a auto that cpap.com sells for 579.00 total

[socknitster]

Hear, Hear, Sleeep! You go!

My experience was similar. I got my auto too. They knew that I knew how much they cost online and that was enough of a threat for them to do as I asked with not too much trouble. Although, in my case I just told them I had to have data compatible machine, and would accept nothing less. It turns out the wholesale price on auto bipaps and bipap pro are so similar to be negligible, so I got the auto bipap.

You know my husband told me tonight that his company basically pays our insurance HIS SALARY (he is a Ph.D. in Rand D for a cutting edge tech company) every year, plus we fork over a significant amount. No matter how "luxurious" my cpap is and no matter how many doctors I see or surgeries I have, i could never come remotely close to totalling that amount over the number of years he has worked there. Some terrible terminal illness that required copious hospitalization would be the only thing that would come remotely close.

And THAT just burns my BUTT.

I seriously might have to look into politics with my newfound clarity of mind and energy of spirit and body that cpap has given me.

Jen

[Guest]

My DME Tried the same crap.

They told me a Remstar auto (which cost 600)would cost me 500 more.
They gave me a remstar plus(which cost 300) and said this is all my insurance would cover.
I gave them the remstar plus back and told them I wanted a remstar auto for no extra charge or I will get my machine from a Halfway honest DME.
They agreed and gave me a brand new respironics auto for no extra charge.

Heres why.
Ins rents machine for 3 months at 250 a month, thats 750 for the dme and 75 dollars cost for me, my 10%

after 3 months, rental is converted to a purchase.
Dme charges insurance 2200.00 for machine and insurance company discounts that bill down to 1300.00 of which i have to pay 130.000
The DME has got 750.00 rent and 1300.00 totalling 2050.00 for a machine that cost 450.00 wholesale. thats 1600.00 profit
why did they try to stick me with a remstar plus ?
a remstar plus cost a dme 200.00, so the dme makes an extra 250.00 if the stick you with a cheaper machine.

insurance pays same amount for cpap or apap.

If you wrecked your BMW and your ins company sent a 50,000.00 check to a car dealer for a new car, the car dealer would tell you insurance doesnt cover new bmw's Heres your new yugo
most dme's are more dishonest than car dealers.
when I asked my dme the price of a cpap or mask they said they could not tell me the price without checking with my insurance first. which means the price is the max of what my insurance will pay

Look at the prices at cpap.com before you purchase any equipment
They are honest, and give you the price upfont.
my dme wanted 500 more plus insurance money for a auto that cpap.com sells for 579.00 total

You gave an excellent evaluation of the process, fair warning: I wouldn't even attempt to explain this to a RT

[echo]

drummergirl--

sorry I was offline for a few days (went on a short weekend trip for my big 3-0 birthday )

VERY glad to hear you're sleeping better!!

By the way, what's EPR? All that says to me is "Electronic patient record" (I work in healthcare IT) but I guess that's not it eh?

[bdp522]

Expiratory Pressure Relief.
From cpap.com news letter;
Respironics C-Flex vs. Resmed EPR: There Is A Difference

Many similarities exist between Respironics C-Flex and Resmed EPR but they are NOT the same thing! Both are easy breathing, expiratory pressure reduction systems. Both decrease the pressure to the patient at the beginning of each exhalation and both have three comfort settings. However, major differences exist in the availability and effectiveness of these features.

Here are a list of the major differences:

Auto Mode Pressure Adjustments. C-Flex works when the machine is in the "Automatic Pressure Adjust", or "Auto" mode. EPR only works in "Constant Pressure", or "CPAP" mode. EPR will not work when an S8 Vantage machine is in the "Auto" mode.

Length Of Pressure Drop. C-Flex decreases pressure at the beginning of each breath. The decrease lasts for less than a second and then returns to the base pressure. EPR decreases the pressure at the beginning of each breath also but keeps the pressure low throughout the exhalation.

Relative vs. Exact Pressure Drop. C-Flex settings reduce the pressure relative to the patient’s exhalation strength and the machine pressure setting. EPR reduces the pressure by one, two or three centimeters of water pressure.

Sleep Disordered Breathing Event Handling. EPR has an Event Detection Circuit. When a sleep disordered breathing event is expected or has occurred, EPR stops until the event concludes and normal breathing resumes. C-Flex is of such short duration it is thought that is has no negative effect on sleep disordered breathing events and does not need to stop.

Ramp Mode Pressure Relief. EPR can be limited to work in the ramp mode only. C-Flex can not be limited in this way.
So, if EPR reduces the expiratory pressure by a controlled 1, 2, or 3 centimeters, what is the difference between EPR and BiPAP (tm) or Bilevel?

Bilevel machines are categorized as "ventilatory devices". They use rapid pressure changes to expand and contract lung volume. EPR uses slower pressure changes, so there is little ventilatory effect. However, EPR does feel very much like a Bilevel to the patient.


Brenda

[Organplayer]

The more I read here, the more appalled I am at the behavior of DME's. Gee, I thought academics was bad. DME behavior here puts academics as sweet little innocents. I guess money changes the tune.

There must be a special place in Hell for DMEs who give patients the runaround.
I hope its that new tenth circle (reference to Dante).

Kevin