How is the Malibu so much cheaper on cpap.com?

gprro1 · Post by **gprro1** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:25 pm

After my local provider wanted to charge me $4700 for a Malibu set up, I started doing some research. Seems like cpap.com is much cheaper than even the other online stores. $1250 vs. about $2500. Just curious how they are so much cheaper.

And, hoping the pricing stays the same, as I'll probably order one in the next month or so . Unless further research leads me to another model.

Thanks,
G

gprro1 · Post by **gprro1** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:46 pm

anyone...anyone...

I went and picked up my rental today, and asked about pricing. They said that it was their contracted price with blue cross. Why would blue cross contract to pay that much??? I'm getting really curious about how the industry works.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:19 pm

Well, the price the local DME quoted MAY or MAY NOT be what they bill your insurance and then what your insurance actually pays may or may not be that amount, either. It all depends on how their contracts really work.

Online prices are lower than the brick & mortar DMEs. Don't let anybody kid you, the online sellers also have a considerable amount of overhead, too. Part of the pricing structure depends on how many units the sellers actually buy from the manufacturers. Most of the online sellers do lots of volume, so they get better prices. Many online sellers also sell to the local mom & pop shops, too because their prices are often better than they can buy them from the manufacturers.

When you get it figured out how this industry "works".......let us all know. The insurance providers have been wasting way too many of our premium dollars in all of this for far too long......but a big chunk of the blame belongs to the Federal government as they set some of the pricing structures through Medicare (CMS).

Bottom line......save as much of YOUR money as you possibly can.

Den

Perchancetodream · Post by **Perchancetodream** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:54 pm

What Den said! For sure!

Also, make sure you check how much copay and deductible (if any) you will be paying out of pocket. Sometimes that can exceed the cost on cpap.com

Susan

gprro1 · Post by **gprro1** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 5:07 pm

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies. My deductible has been met, and my copay would be 20%. I did briefly talk with the online store, and they said I could file with my insurance, and they should cover it. I would have to buy it first though.

Luckily, my mom is the admin. for the senior vp of Blue Cross and is friends with some other high ups. I'm hoping I can get some input from them, or at least talk to someone who can give me some info on how it "works". When I first heard the price the DME quoted compared to the online pricing, my first thoughts were that I needed to be in the cpap business .

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 5:17 pm

Depending on what your financial situation is, if you can afford to buy it out-of-pocket from https://www.cpap.com , BC/BS is reputed to be excellent at reimbursing their members at their "in-network" DME rate.

There's also this one (another subsidiary of CPAP.COM) who works with BCBS:

http://www.billmyinsurance.com/

Be sure to do all the math before making a decision.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask them on the forum or call CPAP.COM.

Den

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 5:43 pm

gprro1 wrote:Luckily, my mom is the admin. for the senior vp of Blue Cross and is friends with some other high ups.

And YOU are asking us "How this works"? Really? What's wrong with this picture?

gprro1 · Post by **gprro1** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 6:02 pm

GumbyCT wrote:
gprro1 wrote:Luckily, my mom is the admin. for the senior vp of Blue Cross and is friends with some other high ups.
And YOU are asking us "How this works"? Really? What's wrong with this picture?

, yeah I know I just got curious really quick. I'm going to try and talk with someone who knows. My mom isn't really involved with the coverage and payments side, more the company financial and personnel. She doesn't have a clue about payments and supplier contracts.

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