Insurance, etc...

HisServ · Post by **HisServ** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:48 pm

Help... my husband was just diagnosed with sleep apnea and I'm trying to figure all this out about insurance. He has BCBS and I know it's supposed to be cheaper to go online. Can anyone give me insight about all this and billmyinsurance.com? It's all so confusing!

jaybee72 · Post by **jaybee72** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:09 pm

If it's an HMO billmyinsurance.com won't work. I know that much. My BCBS HMO plan did not require a compliance rental period, though, which was a big plus!

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:28 pm

It isn't always cheaper to go online to purchase CPAP equipment. It depends on your insurance's DME benefits. Our BC/BS coverage is excellent. The thing to do is call your BC/BS carrier and find out just what your DME benefits are and then figure your out of pocket costs, if any, from there. billmyinsurance.com can help you there. But call your BC/BS first to get some idea of your coverge. Before we went on Medicare our BC/BS DME coverage was 100%.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:35 pm

Also, if you're in a position to purchase out-of-pocket, ask your BC/BS provider if they will reimburse you for out-of-pocket DME purchases. I've read on this forum that BC/BS is pretty good about doing that. You get what you want and everybody saves money.

Den

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:39 pm

EXCELLENT advice, Wulfman. I forgot about that, duh! I also forgot to say that when you call BC/BS also ask them what local DME suppliers they are contracted with. Usually you will have a choice of 2-3 at the least and then you can always shop each one, pit one against the other if necessary, to try to get the best deal. Good luck! (Our BC/BS is now secondary to Medicare and we still pay nothing since BC/BS picks up our Medicare copay.)

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:13 pm

You mentioned BILLMYINSURANCE.COM in your original post.....they will charge your insurance the same as a local DME. (even though they are part of the CPAP.COM "family")
I was referring to purchasing online through CPAP.COM and then getting personally reimbursed from your insurance provider (BC/BS). (as far as saving everybody money)

Den

dieselgal · Post by **dieselgal** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:25 pm

I think my insurance is pretty good, I have NRECA and they covered all but $213.00 of my ResMed S8 Elite with humidifier and my first mask. The only reason I paid that much is because they were going to give me the regular S8 Compact and I wanted the EPR so I paid $130.00 extra. I went in armed with some knowledge but not enough at the time. I would work that differently today and get my Dr. to change the prescription requiring what I wanted.

Mask