Lincare "Ethics" (irony in quotes)

[idamtnboy]

So I bet many of you will be shocked at this scum-bag billing practice by Lincare. Of course I will not be paying any more than the S9 rent that they quoted me at delivery. I'll be certain to let CDPHP know that they only charged me $34.11 when I bought a cushion out of pocket.

The last item on the list is the humidifier, not the blower. For whatever reason humidifiers are sold outright at the start of the rental period. The bill does not have the CPAP rental on it.

[Drowsy Dancer]

I get filters (gray foam and disposable white) from here, because I can buy in larger batches than from cpap.com:

http://www.cpapfiltersandsupplies.com/

[chunkyfrog]

Due to insurance and DME games, I've been using cpap.com for
nearly everything since about 6 months after I started cpap.
One or more of the local providers may get some of my Medicare business if
they carry what I need, and are not total morons at their jobs.
I will continue to visit my old friends for new toys.

[John from Brookston]

I'm fighting with the DME I used over what they say is a $19.77 co-pay on a $140 heated hose. I called my insurance company. they advised that the DME billed it as "home care", so a co-pay would be required. I said (and the iunsurance person agreed) "WHAT 'home care'? That stuff was picked up at the office by me personally".
I told the DME billing rep they were wrong, i expected it to be fixed, I did NOT expect to see another bill and if they want to pursue this from Nasty Letter #1 through court summons, I'd be more than happy to show the judge my EOB that states "Durable Medical Equipment is paid 100%. Patient pays 0%", but the bottom line is they're not getting a DIME out of me.

[ellen1159]

Yikes! I'm about to take delivery of a bilevel (bipap) machine and equipment from Lincare either tomorrow or Monday, whenever the RT gets around to calling me to schedule the home visit and setup. Didn't ask the make/model# of machine when I confirmed that they received my order but I will get it when they call to schedule home appointment.

I was told by Lincare that they have to collect a $869.67 copay at the time they come to my home with the hardware; didn't say if this is an outright purchase or rental. I don't know what my insurance company (MEGA) covers, it's mostly a catastrophic care plan for ER and hospitalization coverage with limited Rx, lab and office visit coverage.

I'm on guard now. Very interesting to know how these DME's operate with customers and insurance. Good to know there are outside options as well, for the educated consumer.

[DJD52]

Do many of you use cpap.com?[/quote]

YIKES!

After reading all this I'm appreciating the DME I have but really appreciating my ins coverage. I had no co-pay for anything even tho the RT comes to the house.

BTW, I got my first order from cpap.com yesterday and will continue to use them for what my dme doesn't carry. They don't carry much as far as masks.
The manager at the ins co told me cpap.com prices are very competitive.

[Denial Dave]

I buy my Quattro cushions from my DME....the majority of the cost for them is covered by my insurance.

I think my last order for 2 cushions cost me $10

Everything else I've needed for my treatment has been purchased via CPAP.com 1800cpap.com or E-bay...

My selection process is usually based on who has something on sale, lowest price or free shipping offers, etc...

Dave

[caffeinatedcfo]

It gets better. I just hung up with their billing dept and the local Lincare didn't write anything up correctly. My bill was adjusted down to the first month's rent of $61.55. The locals wrote everything up as purchases, except the S9 Autoset.

I will still continue to rent/then buy the machine from them, but all other ties are severed.

I was able to catch my co-worker and educate her before she chose her DME.

[khauser]

Yikes! I'm about to take delivery of a bilevel (bipap) machine and equipment from Lincare either tomorrow or Monday, whenever the RT gets around to calling me to schedule the home visit and setup. Didn't ask the make/model# of machine when I confirmed that they received my order but I will get it when they call to schedule home appointment.

I was told by Lincare that they have to collect a $869.67 copay at the time they come to my home with the hardware; didn't say if this is an outright purchase or rental. I don't know what my insurance company (MEGA) covers, it's mostly a catastrophic care plan for ER and hospitalization coverage with limited Rx, lab and office visit coverage.

I'm on guard now. Very interesting to know how these DME's operate with customers and insurance. Good to know there are outside options as well, for the educated consumer.

Ellen,
I suggest you look, NOW, at online providers like cpap.com. There's a VERY good chance you could own that machine for about the price of your "copay", and avoid any hassle whatsoever (gotta laugh ... somehow the copay becomes the same price one can get it if they ignore insurance. What a SCAM).

You do lose out on the in-network deductible if your insurance has one ... in other words if you buy from an out of network provider, it won't be applied to your in-network deductible. That would only matter if you felt it possible/likely that you'd SATISFY that deductible and thus gain an advantage in the cost of other items this year.

I have both an in-network and out-of-network deductible, and it's thousands. So I could get the machine from a local DME and apply my costs (basically ALL of the machine) to the in-network deductible OR I can get it from CPAP.COM, which is what I chose, saving (at least for this transaction) over $1000.

Easy choice for my math...

[YogaKitty]

I don't love Lincare or anything, BUT, my local Lincare has been pretty good. Wait - well, they were pretty good setting me up and then I havent' heard from them since, The re-order people are ok, and the billing helped me pay my machine off last December before my insurance changed and I got hit starting all over on rent to own. So all in all, not great, but not bad.

[Cpap momma]

Shouldn't be billed for initial cushion and water chamber upon set-up. Chamber is part of humidifier (replacements are billed) and the initial cushion is part of the frame.

[jencat824]

Yikes! I'm about to take delivery of a bilevel (bipap) machine and equipment from Lincare either tomorrow or Monday, whenever the RT gets around to calling me to schedule the home visit and setup. Didn't ask the make/model# of machine when I confirmed that they received my order but I will get it when they call to schedule home appointment.

I was told by Lincare that they have to collect a $869.67 copay at the time they come to my home with the hardware; didn't say if this is an outright purchase or rental. I don't know what my insurance company (MEGA) covers, it's mostly a catastrophic care plan for ER and hospitalization coverage with limited Rx, lab and office visit coverage.

I'm on guard now. Very interesting to know how these DME's operate with customers and insurance. Good to know there are outside options as well, for the educated consumer.

Ellen,
I suggest you look, NOW, at online providers like cpap.com. There's a VERY good chance you could own that machine for about the price of your "copay", and avoid any hassle whatsoever (gotta laugh ... somehow the copay becomes the same price one can get it if they ignore insurance. What a SCAM).

You do lose out on the in-network deductible if your insurance has one ... in other words if you buy from an out of network provider, it won't be applied to your in-network deductible. That would only matter if you felt it possible/likely that you'd SATISFY that deductible and thus gain an advantage in the cost of other items this year.

I have both an in-network and out-of-network deductible, and it's thousands. So I could get the machine from a local DME and apply my costs (basically ALL of the machine) to the in-network deductible OR I can get it from CPAP.COM, which is what I chose, saving (at least for this transaction) over $1000.

Easy choice for my math...

On the off chance that CPAP.com does not have the machine you need, you might want to try secondwind.com - they have gently used machines at a fraction of the cost. Just a thought.
Jen

[caffeinatedcfo]

Shouldn't be billed for initial cushion and water chamber upon set-up. Chamber is part of humidifier (replacements are billed) and the initial cushion is part of the frame.

Yeah the locals were committing billing fraud, which I have reported to Lincare Corporate and CDPHP (My insurance).

[SethW]

I asked if I could buy the CPAP device outright, but my local Lincare office told me I had to rent the machine in order for my insurance to pay, and that after 12 months I would own the machine. Around 8 months into the deal, I asked how many more months were left before I owned the machine and was told by a call center employee at that time that I would never own the machine and that if I stopped paying Lincare they would take back the machine. Now maybe for somebody who has a gold-plated insurance plan and has no out-of-pocket expenses it would make sense to have the insurance pay, but I have large deductibles and everything is coming out of my pocket. It makes zero sense for me to sign up for a program that has me paying $100+ per year in perpetuity to Lincare (after paying to "rent" the machine for 10 months) when I could have bought the machine from cpap.com for just about the same amount of money as 12 monthly "rental" payments from Lincare. And what if I lose my job and my insurance, or for some other reason I have to pay the absurd charges that Lincare "bills" and the insurance company then reduces by like $150? Does it make any sense at all to sign up for a plan like that?

What I most object to is that they are not honoring the agreement we had when I started, namely that I would own the device after 12 rental payments. I have the address for legal correspondence to Lincare. Sending certified correspondence to their legal staff is going to be my next step. This is such a hassle.

Right after I became a customer at Lincare I got an automated call from some company marketing some type of service like Life Alert, trying to scare me into buying the service. I'm not exactly the target market for that kind of service, so the messaging in the advertising fell on deaf ears, but whatever that company was, their advertising was, in my opinion, sleazy. The timing of being pitched a medical service right after I became a Lincare customer could have been completely coincidental, but at the time, I remember being a little disgruntled at the thought that Lincare might be selling my personal medical information to some other medical service company, and having it be one with such a sleazy advertising approach made it that much worse. I didn't remember ever receiving a call like that before I became a Lincare customer.

[caffeinatedcfo]

Seth -

1) I would get crystal clear on your insurance policy regarding purchase of a CPAP device. If they will reimburse towards outright purchase then go for it.

2) Get a copy of your CPAP prescription from your doctor. Then you can buy from whomever YOU choose.

Lincare varies by local agency in two ways: (a) they do not know what they are talking about, or (b) they are dirty fraudsters. Take your pick. I made sure the machine they gave me was brand new and will buy it since I've researched the price and found it fair.