Apria being a PITA about purchase of the CPAP

gecko1977a · Post by **gecko1977a** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:56 am

I have apria as the DME that United Healthcare uses... and they are some bull headed folk

I have been calling them the past few months cause i got word from my insurance company that if the BiPAP was working fine that they will approve a claim for purchase of the machine.

Apria first said that they would submit claim to insurance for this - OK

Now Apria says that BiPAPs are NEVER purchased, that UHC will rent them indefinately

I called UHC today and talked to their care coordination dept and they say that in mid august a claim was submitted to purchase the machine for over $4000 and that the DME was notified of this.

I told UHC that they got took, and that they could have bought the whole thing right out and first off for under $2000

So I call Apria and they say that they rent indefinately, and never purchase and i need to talk to somebody else, who's # is busy all the time!!!!

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:47 am

I just checked:

http://www.billmyinsurance.com/

and United Healthcare is listed in their drop-down menu. You might want to call BMI and see what they can do for you.
Another option is to check with United Healthcare and see if they will reimburse you for out-of-pocket purchases (if that's a viable option for you). That way you could save everybody (except Apria) a considerable amount of money.
Since you've already told UH they've been ripped off, they might be agreeable to that option.

Best wishes,

Den

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:55 pm

Call Apria, ask for the manager of Customer Service. Ask that person about your problem, with the understanding if they are "spring loaded" to the "NO"
position, you want to speak to their boss. If this does not motivate anyone,
ask the local Apria Manager for the phone number for Corporate HQ. Usually
they do NOT want HHQ involved, so they might stretch their imaginations and do the right thing for you.

OR...call the switchboard, tell the operator you can't get any service, you want to speak to the manager of the whole Apria office.

I certainly don't start out like that, but after hearing "NO" a few times, I have been known to ask the offending party if they have anyone providing adult supervision. While this won't make any friends for you with the "NO" person,
you really don't want to deal with them. As I have said before, be proactive and do NOT tolerate bad service.

I get excellent service from Apria now.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 2:02 pm

Apria will lie throught their teeth, tell you one thing and do another.

krousseau · Post by **krousseau** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:14 pm

You can make comments/complaints/send questions to your regional Apria HQ at http://www.apria.com/home/

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:31 pm

I e-mailed Apria and got no response. I then called corporate headquarters and had results the next day!

gecko1977a · Post by **gecko1977a** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:57 pm

I called the office for apria that deals with UHC, and they said i had to talk to the branch manager, got the #, called, she was in a meeting. I left a message, The manager called back and said that if UHC said to submit it, that they will do so.

I let her know that i had been working on getting this done for over a month. She said that they do have people who would like the machine just purchased (since they will need it the rest of their lives)

I did let them know that if they cannot get this done, that the machine will be coming back and i will raise the money and purchase the machine from CPAP.com out of my pocket.

She said she would get it taken care of, and I will call back tuesday to follow up.

krousseau · Post by **krousseau** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:10 pm

The email did work for me in obtaining an APAP-sent it in the AM and got the first call back that day. That was followed by several calls from both regional and local offices. The local office has since been closed and I use an Apria office in Sacramento. At least on the telephone they have been efficient, helpful and courteous. The only requests have been for supplies replacement masks etc. I have not tried to establish any kind of continuing contact with the respiratory therapist that comes up to the area one time a week as I see myself getting answers to questions here. I met her one time when I picked up a replacement CPAP, asked a few questions that I already knew the answers to (her answers were different than mine), and I haven't gone back. She told me she had already set up the CPAP to my prescribed pressures. When I set up the machine at home I found she had set the ramp feature for a split night.
So now my motto is keep your expectations low, and you won't be disappointed. No more complaints-the squeaky wheel gets oiled once-then if it still squeaks-it gets tossed out. I got the machine I wanted. When my rental period is up I switch to cpapforseniors.

BTW one of the questions I asked (and managed to keep a straight face) was "What happens if I die while using the machine---will it just keep inflating me?"

Of course she is probably somewhere talking about the stupid woman who asked....

UCFgrl · Post by **UCFgrl** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:11 pm

I too had the not great pleasure of having to deal with Apria. After having been told by the sleep lab that I would be contacted and an appointment set up to go over everything, I found out this was not the case. When I called Apria directly they had no idea and transferred me to the Apria division of Cigna. They also seemed like they had no idea and I had to force information out of them b/c they acted like I was speaking in tongues. They finally called to tell me everything would be mailed which is not what I wanted b/c I wanted them to explain what needed to be done. Not to mention that they sent me a mask that I did not want. It was like pulling eye teeth to try to get the mask switched out. The guy finally called to set up an appointment but I was unable to answer at the time. He left a message stating he could get me in the next day, but by the time I called him back no more than 30 mins. later, he told me he didn't have anything until the following week. It took me demanding to talk to a supervisor and making them fit me in to get a new mask. They were nothing but a pain in the butt from the beginning! APRIA SUCKS!

rvguy · Post by **rvguy** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:31 pm

We have five large DME's in the area and my doc recommended Apria. My first thought was "Oh no, here we go!" Within an hour of leaving the docs office, Apria called me and said they received the script and would be sending to my insurance company for approval. The approval came back in less than 24 hours and Apria called to set up my initial appointment. Everyone has been super on their end so far and they have the equipment prescribed. Let's see what happens next. It may be because Apria is not the only DME allowed for my insurance and competition brings out the best.

Paul

UCFgrl · Post by **UCFgrl** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:19 pm

You got very lucky Paul. From what I hear and experienced, Apria is far from being caring and concerned about their customers/patients. Their main concern is the bottom line.

gecko1977a · Post by **gecko1977a** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 12:23 pm

another guest · Post by **another guest** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 12:54 pm

My husband has dealt with Apria for all the equipment related to his treatment. They called us promptly after his diagnosis to schedule his fitting for a mask. While there, he was given a large selection of masks to choose from. They set him up and allowed him to try each mask with the machine running. (I have to wonder what becomes of those trial masks?) He brought home the one he liked best, and it's been working fine. I called recently to request a full face mask for those times when he has a cold--the Dr. called the Ins., the Ins called Apria and Apria called us within 3 days. I guess we've just been lucky, but we've had a very good experience with Apria.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 7:45 pm

Another Guest:
My experience with Apria was the same as yours - just a straight business transaction with acceptable paperwork and delivery. Don't expect too much support from this forum though. Nothing but complaining goes on here.

CollegeGirl · Post by **CollegeGirl** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 7:59 pm

Guest -

You mean like yours?

Mask	Humidifier

Mask	Humidifier

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