Did I just get ripped off? Please help

[yalag]

I just went to a cpap dealer today and got sold a cpap resmed s9 elite machine with the humidifier. It costed me $1940, $780 of which is covered by OHIP. But then I went home and started searching online and the prices seems to be about half?! This is a normal canada price?

[ArmandXP]

I just went to a cpap dealer today and got sold a cpap resmed s9 elite machine with the humidifier. It costed me $1940, $780 of which is covered by OHIP. But then I went home and started searching online and the prices seems to be about half?! This is a normal canada price?

Seems very high, but I don't know about Canadian prices. The online prices are lower, but getting your insurance company to reimburse you is close to nil, from what I understand. Maybe someone more knowledgable can chime in....

[Julie]

Hi from a fellow Canuck - go to coastalsleep.ca and you can order it (yes, Resmed, because they're dealers) for just about the same price as Cpap.com sells it for. You got ripped off. Hopefully they'll take it back... go in on Monday. Good luck!

[BlackSpinner]

I just went to a cpap dealer today and got sold a cpap resmed s9 elite machine with the humidifier. It costed me $1940, $780 of which is covered by OHIP. But then I went home and started searching online and the prices seems to be about half?! This is a normal canada price?

That is the standard price at the brick and mortar dealers in Canada, the idea is that they help you with all the adjustments and training the reality is that they don't give a damn and don't know what they are doing. But like Julie says it is much cheaper online at the link she provides. You must login to get the "real" price.

[~Q~]

That is the price the DME's generally bill the insurance company. My DME give me a cash price if $1,200 or $1,850 with ins for the unit in my signature. So, you didnt technically get ripped off, but you can surely find that exact equipment much cheaper online

Q

[tooter]

That is the price the DME's generally bill the insurance company. My DME give me a cash price if $1,200 or $1,850 with ins for the unit in my signature. So, you didnt technically get ripped off, but you can surely find that exact equipment much cheaper online


Q

Actually ...if you paid your DME $1200, you kind of got ripped off.(Unless you are getting really good service). cpap.com sells that unit for ...$868
https://www.cpap.com/customize.php?PNum=4068&PAID=0

[Pugsy]

OP is in Canada...they do things a whole lot differently up there than our insurance in the US does things.
Also how or what they do will vary between provinces and not everyone has the extra insurance that will even pay the fixed amount that some provinces will reimburse.
So actually...what happened to this Canadian is common when they go to brick and mortar stores where cpap equipment is sold.

[Hawthorne]

The OP is from Canada - Ontario to be exact. This is the way it is on Ontario. We pay more than half as much to a Canadian DME. In Ontario we do get that amount ($780) from the Provincial Government. "Technically" they SAY that will replace your machine every 5 years and pay that $780 towards a new one but don't hold your breathe! All Sleep Specialists are different and when I went for another sleep study after 6 years I was told I would get a prescription for a new machine "if and when" my current (original machine) was broken beyond repair. One DME told me I should "accidently" drop it down the stairs. If you have an Extended Health Plan SOME will pay something towards your machine and masks but they have a time frame too - each is different. You can't get a new machine, in Ontario at least, (don't know about other Provinces) without a recent sleep study and prescription.

I now use my old prescription (2002) and buy online. Most US online providers see sleep apnea as a permanent condition and will honour a prescription that old and older. Of course, now Resmed and Philips Respironics will not allow the online providers to ship outside the US. There are ways around this. Other machines from other manufacturers can still be shipped from the US.

I have bought a number of machines online over the years. I will continue to get mine that way as long as some manufacturers will allow the providers to ship here. I save more than 1/2 this way - masks and masks parts too are much cheaper online.

If you consider buying online at any time, please ask a Canadian on the forum, because you need to be careful about the shipping method or you will end up with a big brokerage fee as well.

[photodork]

im living in newfoundland and the dme here charges about that same price for an autocpap and heated humidifier when i looked for a new machine in jan2013.

i asked some questions here on the forum and bought new from secondwind in the usa. i chose to have package delivered by mail. canada post only charges 10bucks handling fee and accepts the gst for canada customs.
there is no duty on cpap or supplies.

most carriers like fedx/ups etc will charge a brokerage fee+ taxes.

ive.purchased from secondwind twice since january.

i would never purchase cpap items in canada again.

[yalag]

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm kinda ok with the price provided that this is the price from every other DME around town. I understand that I can save a lot by going online etc, but all I wanted to know is that I didn't get rip off to the point that if I just walked down the street it's already half the price. That would be robbery.

[~Q~]

That is the price the DME's generally bill the insurance company. My DME give me a cash price if $1,200 or $1,850 with ins for the unit in my signature. So, you didnt technically get ripped off, but you can surely find that exact equipment much cheaper online


Q

Actually ...if you paid your DME $1200, you kind of got ripped off.(Unless you are getting really good service). cpap.com sells that unit for ...$868
https://www.cpap.com/customize.php?PNum=4068&PAID=0

$1,200 for a Respironics Series 60 Auto with humidifier, heated hose, and a mask. Yes, I probably have gotten a cheaper cash price online, but not by alot. I also couldn't have gone in and tried out 3 different masks at 3 different times at my prescription pressure. Given I do have Ins, I'm only out of pocked about $200 for everything.

My DME and my Dr on one and the same. They only setup their patients with top of the line Respironics units. My Dr. said he was tired of sending patients out to external DMEs with a script to only have them come back with units completely different than what he intended, so he setup his only in-house DME shop. Sounds like I'm a bit of an oddball -- I have a DME that actually cares about the equipment I'm using.

Q