Anybody in Canada have Manulife?

[Sam793]

I have all the paperwork now for my CPAP. I have been using a F&P Icon Premo for the last three months which I thought was on loan. The clinic I went to use a couple of different suppliers but I was told I could use whomever. For ease of things, I thought I would stay with the one that gave me the loaner. They just assumed I was going to keep the one they gave me. I told them I wanted the ResMed S9. They were out of stock and would have to order it. I told them no problem and make sure it's an Elite as I don't want an Escape. I was then told my insurance company probably wouldn't cover the $500 difference between the Escape and Elite. I'm submitting a pre-approval to see. I have $2000 coverage every five years for the machine and the Ontario government pays the first $700 and something of the machine I've been told.

My questions are:

Anyone from Ontario have any issues getting coverage from Manulife for the Elite?

How is the difference $500 when you see minimal cost difference from various online stores? Are the accessories different?

I am a techie type guy but get bored of data checking after some time (Checked my F&P for the first month then stopped) and probably only would if I ran into an issue. Saying that if I had to pay this $500, would the Elite be worth it?

Lastly, I don't have issues with the F&P, should I just stay with it?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[chunkyfrog]

bump

[Hose_Head]

I'm on Great West Life and have been on Manulife in the past. Policies with both were identical. It depends mostly on your employer and what kind of benefit package that they have negotiated.

GWL's policy, it appears, is to leave it up to you to decide how you want to spend that $2000 coverage that they allow. Spend it all at once, or spread it out. That is up to you. Just realize that if you spend it all on needless supplies, etc, you will have no insurance coverage until the benefit is renewed for you in two or 5 years time. In my GWL plan, the $2000 coverage is a lifetime benefit, so once I spend it, it's gone for good!

But why not contact Manulife and ask them?

BTW, don't let the DME rip you off. Before you go in to see them, know:
- exactly how much will ADP pay
- what machine you want
- what the machine, mask, hose and filters cost when purchased direct from mail order (e.g. cpap.com)
- make sure you have a copy of your Rx from your doctor (this allows you to go elsewhere to purchase and you will need it for supplies such as new masks in the future.

Know that you cannot buy Resmed products by mail order from the USA. USA suppliers cannot ship to you. For this reason, it may be best to stay away from Resmed products in Canada because you will have limited choices from Canadian Sources and it may cost you more in the long run. There is a Canadian source for Resmed masks at very good prices in Vancouver, but who knows how secure that source might be for future orders.

Armed with the above, you will be well equipped to discuss a purchase with your DME. And don't be afraid to go to a different DME if you think you are being ripped off. It's been 5 years since I dealt with this and prices and ADP coverages have changed. But my Respironics M Series Auto cost me less than $400; the rest was billed to ADP. GWL reimbursed me for the full $400, so the net to me was zero. (and the balance left on my lifetime limit was then down to $1600.) Prices for you to purchase today should be similar.

Have a look around at different machines. My recommendation would be a Phillips Respironics PR System One machine (or whatever the equivalent is today). Just make sure that what you buy is fully data capable (not just compliance hours).