Can't identify my new machine

[unclematt]

It's a Resmed and it says EPR on it. I tried to find a Resmed EPR on the drop down menu on this board but the closest is the EPR auto PAP. Mine is not an autopap, at least not to my knowledge. I started with an auto but my DME changed it out.

[Pugsy]

EPR just stands for Exhale Pressure Relief or something to that effect. It is just a feature that is available on the newer ResMed machines. It is available on the straight cpaps like the Escape II and the Elite II and on the Auto machines. Did you get a user manual with your new machine?

[Slinky]

Look in the blue on your Resmed above the LCD screen. Look for Compact (NOTfully data capable), Escape (NOT fully data capable - even if it has a data card) or Elite (great device, fully data capable). If it is a Compact or an Escape, take it back. INSIST on the Elite. It is YOUR health, YOUR therapy, YOUR sleep. YOU are paying for this equipment, makes no difference whether thru insurance or out of pocket, YOU are still paying for it.

Call your insurance company (or your secondary insurance if on Medicare as most every local DME takes Medicare) and ask what local DME CPAP suppliers they are contracted with. Hopefully you will have the option of more than just this one as that gives you more bargaining/negotiating room to get the equipment you want (w/in reason, of course).

[SleepyNoMore]

Maybe it's on the bottom of the machine!

[Muse-Inc]

It's a Resmed and it says EPR on it...

Then, you have the S8 Escape II (no useful data) or the S8 Elite II (full data...good). All Series II have the EPR feature. If you don't have an APAP as you stated, then it's one of these two.

[cflame1]

https://www.cpap.com/viewImage.php?PNum ... w-cord.jpg

or

https://www.cpap.com/viewImage.php?Bund ... w-ball.jpg

[snoregirl]

Why did you sign papers and walk out with a machine that you did not know what it is??????

[Hawthorne]

snoregirl - ---because the OP is new like we all were once and, like the vast majority of us when we started out, didn't know anything about cpap machines.

Like most of us, the OP trusted the sleep medicine professionals to give them a machine that will give therapy and that's want we wanted!

[unclematt]

It's an S8 Escape II.

As for the question of why I took the machine, the DME told me that this is what your insurance pays for. Not knowing anything about all of the different machines, I didn't know if I got an inferior machine and even if I did want a different machine, I didn't have $1,000-$1,500 on me to pay for it out of pocket. Therefore I took what my insurance was paying for. Aren't most of us locked into what the HMO will cover?

[cflame1]

In the case of where you have the choice of more than one DME... check with your insurance on that, then you aren't just stuck with what you're given. You also may be able to persuade the existing DME to swap it out for the Elite II... but you'll have to be prepared to play hard ball with them.

Me... I bought my machine out of pocket. My original DME dispensed what my doc had on the script... which was a fully data capable machine. I just decided that I wanted something more.

[Pugsy]

Therefore I took what my insurance was paying for. Aren't most of us locked into what the HMO will cover?

Did you get the information about "what they would pay for" from the DME or directly from the insurance company?
Many times it seems like the DME says that the basic machine is all that the insurance will pay for only to find out that it isn't necessarily the whole truth.

Yes, some insurance companies might only pay for the most basic of machines but I would have wanted to hear it directly from the insurance company. Most of the time the insurance company will also reimburse for the fully data capable machine at the same rate as the basic plain jane machine. The DME makes more money with the plain machine so they aren't always forthcoming with all pertinent information.

You mention HMO?? Now that could be a whole different can of worms. HMO sometimes do what they darn well please to save money. I would still try to confirm the statement though.

[Slinky]

Yup, yup. Pugsy is right. MOST insurances do NOT pay by brand and model but rather by insurance code (HCPCS) code and the bare bone compliance data only CPAPs, the fully data capable CPAPs and the fully data capable APAPs are all HCPCS code e0601. HMOs "can" be an entirely different ballgame marching to the beat of their own drummer. BUT that is NOT a foregone conclusion. It is YOUR health, YOUR sleep, YOUR therapy and YOU are paying for it, whether out of pocket or thru insurance so - nothing ventured, nothing gained.