Do Medical Supply Companies let you "trial run" mask? Test?

[rainydaywoman]

When you go to the medical supply company and get your mask, can you take it back and switch it for another if it doesn't work for you? Also, how do they monitor whether your cpap machine is getting rid of your apneas? Thanks for your replies - I am brand new to this and havent' gotten my machiine or mask yet.

[purple]

I have Medicare, and mostly, insurance companies use some portion of the Medicare formula. Medicare requires that we have a DME, we can choose any one in our area which accepts Medicare (or whatever our insurance is). The DME is required to allow the individual to test any number of masks that they want for thirty days. The DME rep is supposed to help us with issues like getting the right mask, getting the right fit, getting it to work for us.

If you have not read it. I consider the blog: http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/
to be gospel as to what can happen to an uninformed first time user.

On the other hand, I have only had wonderful, helpful, DME's, and sleep doctors who always looked out for my interest over their companies need to make money. Altho, keep in mind, the first person one is likely to talk to is a receptionist, whose job it is to refer you to a person to sign you up, meaning ask all those questions about identifying the patient, insurance. Then they will want to run that by the business office, which is likely somewhere else in the US. Then you will meet a third person who will actually help you to select a mask, talk with you. You need to write that persons name down, they might not remember you, and be one of several people with the same job, but you want to be talking with someone on that level for most of you initial help. The next level is a certified RT, who, I think, one would only talk to if one was having really frustrating or unusual problems. My worst mistake is usually trying to not take, what seemed at the time, off the cuff quick advice of the third and RT, and doc as to which mask I would be comfortable with. A glance from them at a persons face can be better than all my worry and looking at masks.

If you want to see nearly every mask that is made, then you can look through the website of our sponser, cpap.com. cpap.com does not accept any insurance. The goal in making us go through a DME is that the DME is supposed to be helping us, not just selling us stuff. Unfortunately some DME's are so profit crazy they tend to hire people for too little wages, and overwork them, which creates turnover to get new, unknowledgeable people at the DME.

My DME people were all knowledgeable people who liked to help people. They told me that they would happily go over the thirty day limit on trying new masks. and years later made sure I got things I needed that I could not afford to pay for.

[LSAT]

It's really up to the individual DME...they can determine how many masks you will be allowed to try. You should ask this up front. Some will only allow 1 or 2...others are more generous. Medicare has nothing to do with it.