New user, is machine insurance worth it?

[Recoil Rob]

New user here, 4 months into an Airsense 10 and reached compliance. The machine was paid for by my medical insurance and comes with a 2 year manufacturers warranty. I am aware that a lot of extended warranties are usually not worth the money but having no experience with this type of product I have no idea of reliability.
I have received an email from the machine supplier stating I can extend the full warranty out to 5 years for a one time payment of $75, is this worth it? It seems I can by a new machine online for about $6-700 so the $75 may be worth it.



thanks,

Rob

[palerider]

New user here, 4 months into an Airsense 10 and reached compliance. The machine was paid for by my medical insurance and comes with a 2 year manufacturers warranty. I am aware that a lot of extended warranties are usually not worth the money but having no experience with this type of product I have no idea of reliability.
I have received an email from the machine supplier stating I can extend the full warranty out to 5 years for a one time payment of $75, is this worth it? It seems I can by a new machine online for about $6-700 so the $75 may be worth it.



thanks,

Rob

Never heard of such a thing as CPAP extended warranties... Huh

[ChicagoGranny]

I would apply the $75 toward the purchase of a backup machine. Many of us are very careful to always have a backup machine ready to go. One night without CPAP can be terrible.

[Pugsy]

Never heard of such a thing as CPAP extended warranties... Huh

They offer it in Canada quite often but usually at much higher cost.
First time I have seen someone in the US reporting being asked though from a US based DME. It might happen more often but I just haven't heard about it.

[chunkyfrog]

I would apply the $75 toward the purchase of a backup machine. Many of us are very careful to always have a backup machine ready to go. One night without CPAP can be terrible.

I second granny's opinion.
Extended warranties are little more than a cash cow for whoever sells it,
and it locks you into the same make/model, even if it turns out to be a dreadful POS.

[LSAT]

I never heard of it either...if it was something reliable, I think most suppliers would be peddling it. The extended warranty is only as good as the place selling it...It is not a manufacturers warranty. Do it ONLY If you have been dealing with this supplier and have confidence in them.

[Recoil Rob]

It's AdaptHealth QMES, they were the supplier chosen by my insurance (Fidelis) and they have been very good so far.

[Cardsfan]

What exactly do you get for $75.?

[KatieW]

Another factor is your insurance coverage, or if you are on Medicare. When my cpap stopped working, it was after the 2 year warranty, but I am on Medicare. I took it into my DME, and it was the power cord, which they replaced for free.

Personally I would put the $75 towards a backup machine, to have ready in the middle of the night, or on a weekend. Which is always when things break.

[Recoil Rob]

I asked for a copy of the agreement, will post here when it arrives.

Medicare is another consideration, I will be in August. I'm not sure how that would affect my timing for a new machine. My DME is the company I got this from and they are the ones offering the extended warranty.

As to putting $75 towards a new machine, that makes no sense to me. If I need a backup machine I'll get a backup machine but if the first one breaks I'm going to need another backup. The $75 is simply a hedge against breakage of the initial machine. If the initial machine breaks I can use my backup while waiting for the replacement.

[palerider]

It's AdaptHealth QMES, they were the supplier chosen by my insurance (Fidelis) and they have been very good so far.

They're trying to scam you out of $75...

[Gryphon]

I may be 100% wrong, and based on my assumptions in for a big big surprise if I'm assuming this is true. "This is based on if your covered by insurance and not paying out of pocket."

If your being medically treated for a condition, and the device to treat that condition that your insurance payed for decides to crap out and not work anymore, even if it's not fixable or covered by a warranty, if your insurance company wants you to continue to live healthily and not cost them more in expenses when you wind up in the hospital, I'm thinking they're going to make sure you have a working CPAP machine... You may not get one the next day, but I don't think you'd have to wait 3 or more years for your 5 year window to become available were they'd be willing to buy you another machine. They may want you to send it to where ever you got it from to see if it can be repaired but... ya. I don't think you'd be out of luck.

Anyone who knows better, feel free to chime in and tell me I'm wrong and why. I promise you won't hurt my feelings as long as your not a butt head about it.


I have several backup PAP machines, so honestly I'm not horribly worried if I turn out to be wrong.



As far as paying for one out of pocket, that's a whole different ball game. I'm guessing your looking at what ever warranty the manufacture offers, and if it takes a header off the high dive into an empty pool, say 6 months out of the original warranty window you'll be out of luck and will need to purchase another one on your own.

That's just my guess. Most electronic devices are going to fail sometime with in first few months of use, or well after the warranty window but that's just a statistical average. Even if your machine is still happily trucking along a year after you got it, that's no guarantee it's not going to die 2 days after the warranty window and leave you with a night stand paper weight.

I'd do my homework on any additional warranties, Most policies are basing their coverage on the assumption that most devices are going to continue to work well after even their warranty offer expires or fail soon after purchase and be the concern of the original manufacture... That and also, some insurance companies have ways of getting out of helping you when it comes time to file a claim in the rare event that your machine does die and needs to be replaced or repaired by their policy.

I'd go with not paying insurance for electronics most of the time. Do your homework if you can and see what is being offered, try and read the fine print before you hand over good money for insurance that may just be a placebo to help you sleep better at night. Heck you have a CPAP that's all you need to sleep better.

Best of luck,

Gryphon

[Recoil Rob]

Definitely something to consider, thank you.

I was wondering also, if the machine fails in 9 months, well by then I'll be on Medicare and wouldn't Medicare cover a new machine?

[palerider]

The basic rule of thumb is "if someone offers you an extended warranty, you don't need it", if things broke often enough for them to *need* an extended warranty, they wouldn't offer one, because they'd be losing money on the deal.

[Recoil Rob]

After calling my healthcare insurance provider it becomes clearer.

My doctor could have submitted the machine request as a 5 year rental or outright purchase. If they had done a 5 year rental the DME that provided it is responsible to keep it running for 5 years at no cost. I'm sure they add a premium into the monthly fee to cover that.

OTOH my doctor put in a request to my healthcare insurance provider for an outright purchase, it was approved, I now own the machine. So if I want any coverage past the 2 year manufacturers warranty I have to pay for it.

Still waiting for the details about the extended warranty but apparently it just mirrors Resmed's warranty.