Resmed internet price increase is illegal

[Rastaman]

I'm likely to agree with this post. I know the unit doesn't cost much to make. And I wouldn't even be surprised to find out it's less than $50 to make these.

Okay, I'll try to make this quick. Don't get mad anybody. This is AMERICA. The land of price gouging. We're not trying to fix you like over in England and other countries. They did a study recently of middle aged Americans vs. middle aged Europeans, particularly the British. They found that even our richest people in the U.S. have worse health than the poor over in Britain. They also found that we spend an average of $5,200 per person in the U.S. on healthcare (seems low to me but ok......) and only half that in the UK. They even tried to account for obesity which is rampant in the U.S. and not so much in the UK. Even when they figured that in, the Brits (their poor, not middle class or rich) were still healthier.

They just have a different approach and a different point of view over there. People claim they get better healthcare over here (IF THEY CAN AFFORD IT!) and in reality UK's citizens have us beat hands down. The only thing they could attribute everything to was stress. People over here are by far more stressed than over there. And that's caused by the corporations that "own" us.

So, the moral of the story: We're the richest country in the world and yet we have the worst health, atleast compared to other similar areas. Over there they treat things like your diet and try to find solutions without surgery and without pills. Not here. We want EVERYONE on medications. And we want EVERYONE to have surgeries. And my doc isn't trying to fix me. He's trying to maintain me in this state

[lurker]

I'll tell you why they want to increase the price online.
Simple. Do you know what insurance pays? Do you know how bad it looks to medicare when they see the Resmed machine sold for one tenth the cost online for a new product? That is the problem. It exposes the mark up. Thus, they have decided to forgo online retail to look better to the insurance companies and keep demanding the big bucks in reimbursement.

[Wulfman]

I just ran across this article a little bit ago.

"Rising Costs Threaten the Future of This Traditional Employee Benefit"

http://webcenter.health.webmd.netscape. ... SRC_nsmain


Den

[Guest]

[quote="Anonymous"]It's all BS from start to finish anyhow. These Cpap machines are produced in 3rd world countries for about $25 each! We pay $$$$$$ thousands and jump through hoop after hoop dishing out $ all along the way to get out mini air compressors as it is! Pure, unconditional BS! It's like buying a home, ten people get in line with their stinking hands out to take your $ before you get to move in. Same thing here.

In my opinion, if you think your have apnea you probably do. So, you should be able to directly buy a Cpap auto with Cflex with no prescription at all! Simple, the machines work automatically these days, just have to experiment to find the right mask and off you go. If you go through a DME, you get to have a worthless sleep study. (buy a video camera and tape yourself, it will tell the same thing) lousy service, still end up experimenting until you get it right and pay 3-4 times the price.

This CPAP DME insurance, sleep study is probably the biggest fraud, rip-off con-man racket ever done in world history regarding medical treatment.

It's a fricken $25 compressor for Christ sake! What you do with it after that is up to you!

[bluesky]

Interesting reading about the conspiracy theories posted above. I seriously doubt that the first post here is written by an attorney, as companies are allowed to use differential pricing. As a matter of fact it is encouraged in the business world and happens all the time. Differential pricing can easily be justified with volume, safety concerns, service levels, etc. It does, however, need to be justified, which really isn't very difficult to accomplish. As for the costs (maybe) the cost of the raw materials are $25. However, when one considers the cost to make the parts, assemble, ship, etc. I am sure the cost is far more than $25. Then when you consider factors such as product liability insurance (yes, Mr. alleged attorney - they are huge, but tort reform is not an appropriate topic in this forum). distribution networks, facilities to build them, product development, etc., I have no doubt that it is much more than $25. If you really believe a cheap compressor will work for you the only thing I can say is to give it try and see what kind of results you achieve. If the machine only cost $25 to build and one could get a price of $700+ in the market I believe there would be many more manufacturers that would make them and flood the market with high quality machines, selling them for $100, and still achieve a 75% margin. Our medical industry needs over- hauling, but the type of mis-information spread on this thread is not going to accomplish it. While I am a big supporter of internet shopping and do use it for my XPAP supplies such as hoses, masks, etc., one must keep in mind that the cost structure of an internet supplier is much different than a traditional DME. I don't support the apparent price gouging of many of the DMEs, but as long as the insurance industry continues to be asleep at the wheel that pricing structure will continue. Insurance companies are really not the villains many of you consider them to be - They really are looking out for the best interests of the insured. In some cases it may not seem that way, but that is in fact their mission, and in most cases they do it very well. No, I don't work for a DME, insurance company, etc. - Just a XPAP user. With respect to insurance, I am very grateful that my company has a plan that uses a preferred provider network rather than HMOs - An HMO is an option on my insurance but I choose to pay the extra and use the other option. From what I read in this forum, it makes me even more grateful that I am not required to use an HMO.

[Rastaman]

Then why do we have worse health than our father/mother country (UK)? We have more money and better facilities but yet even our rich are in worse health than the poor over in England. That implies that their middle class and rich are in much better health than even that.

Also, why would an insurance company want to pay a high per month rental fee for a year or more rather than just buy a machine online at cpap.com for you? It would save them alot of money in the long run. What are they hoping for? That I'll quit and no longer have their insurance before the CPAP is paid for? Fat chance!

I guess by conspiracy theories you're referring to patients feeling that way and posting just that. I guess one needs to ask why the patients feel that way.

[bluesky]

You missed the point. However, if you study the countries that have nationalized health care I think you will finbd that it is not a cure all, and it is not perfect either. If nationalized health care was so great we wouldn't see
people from a foreign country with nationalized health care coming to the U.S. for major surgeries, etc. You may need to re-read my post, as I did say our health care system is in need of reform. Our system is far from perfect, but I'll take it over what many countrys with nationalized health care have. My point was simply that there is, in my opinion, not a conspiracy as implied, and that what Resmed announced is allowed if they choose to pursue that option - I don't use Resmed products so I really don't care what they do. There are quite a few XPAP suppliers in the market, and I seriously doubt they will all follow Resmeds lead sould they follow through with their apparent plan.

[Rastaman]

I'm pretty sure corporations have a conspiracy to make money. I'm pretty sure of that. It's how much money they make that might be the issue. A fair profit is a mild profit. A not fair profit is to price gouge. But you're right about other competitors. Hopefully, the won't follow suite so we can atleast buy SOMEONE's products at a reasonable price. And the prices I see on cpap.com seem reasonable.

You're right SOME countries have worse healthcare than others. But there are people here in America that have to go to other countries to get their healthcare due to the AMA not approving certain procedures that are successful in those other countries. So, it goes both ways. But I agree with you. What you're really saying is the workers themselves mean well and they're really not out to get us. Their company is I don't trust companies. Why? One good reason is they pay their CEO 262 times what they pay their average employees. In 1960 those same CEO's made 10 times what the average employee made. By paying their higher-up's that much both the customer and the average worker suffers. And I just don't like it and never will. Trim the fat.

[bluesky]

Lets lighten this one up a bit. Since an alleged attorney started the thread here we go:

A member of the Highway patrol is on his usual route and notices an attorney and a coyote dead on the road. He stops to investigate and notices one major difference in the two accident scenes. Does anyone know what the difference is?

[bluesky]

Here's the answer: There are skid marks in front of the Coyote.

[Rastaman]

Hehe. Does this apply to doctors too?

How about politicians?

[bluesky]

Politicians would be a great fit also, but since many of them are also attorneys we probably had most of them covered. Drs. are also a good fit.

[rested gal]

OR, they could simply refuse to sell to online distributors altogether.

I think that's exactly what ResMed plans to do to any online distributor who doesn't "voluntarily" raise their prices for ResMed products.

The way I see it, Resmed has three options:

1. Discontinue sales to internet distributors.

I think that's what they'll do to any internet retailers who don't toe the line and "voluntarily" raise their prices by 40% for ResMed products.

Make no mistake about it, they WANT to keep the large share of internet sales market

I don't know. I kinda' believe internet sales are a drop in the bucket to ResMed and the other manufacturers...a drop in the bucket compared to their sales to the major local DME's. I think ResMed is concentrating on keeping their own reps and their own biggest customers happy. I think ResMed couldn't care less about internet sales.

Whatever the reason, it's a shame. A real shame. No more ResMed products for me when that price hike takes effect. They won't miss my few dollars. Hope the execs at ResMed can sleep as well at night as I can using other manufacturers products.

[/quote]

[Rastaman]

Haha! Where there's a will, there's a way.

You're probably right RG. And we certainly hope cpap.com doesn't close down anytime soon. Or Yahoo Auctions for that matter. As time goes on I get a better version of the big picture. One thing is for sure. If I want a 2nd machine anytime before 5 years is up my insurance won't pay for it. I've never been one to buy really high priced items unless they really warrant it (ie. quality is so superior to others)

So, I always keep all my options open. I'm very pleased with my s8. It's a great machine. But if they go from $765 to $1211 (as the 40% extra suggests) then why would I buy one? And they'll only cost more from the DME. My DME billed $300 alone for my APAP for one month. Altogether, including initial doc visit, sleep study, cpap for 2 weeks, swift for 1 month, apap for 2 weeks, and now an aptiva mask, my insurance has paid about $1650!!! ($1900 was billed for the sleep study alone and my insurance paid $672!) I can only imagine what this is going to cost the insurance company by the end of the year. Now, I pay for my insurance through work and I have my wife and two kiddos on there too. So, it's very worth it to me. I wouldn't have been able to afford all this stuff without the insurance. I would still be undiagnosed and avoiding the doctors at all costs unless I was about to die. I'm sure the same is true for anyone on a fixed income without insurance. I say fixed because we only make a certain amount at our jobs and it's relatively fixed.