Oxygen Concentrator DME Rent vs. Purchase

[filovirus]

I have noctural hypoxemia despite the cpap, average sat is 84% with dips into the 70's. Was hoping CPAP would eliminate my need for oxygen, but that is not the case and I have to accept this.
DME Rent-A-Center bills around 400 per month for the concentrator rental and it is always a rental, not rent to own like my cpap machine. Insurance writes it down by about 50-60% leaving me about $200 dollars a month to pay out of pocket until the deductible is paid, and then about 40 per month after that. Concentrators are on craigslist but you don't know the history/maintenance/smoker/non-smoker of the machine, only hours. Guess I am going to pick up one new of the internet for about the cost of 2-3 months rental. I had asked my insurance why they don't make the DME cough up the machine after it's is paid for, and they told me the DME is contractually obligated to maintain the machine and it is their bread and butter income. She also said there were safety concern with not maintaining the machine and they let the DME take care of it.

Considering respironics everflo. This is the rental I have. The DME says there are filters inside that are not users replaceable and a filter cartridge on the intake that is replaceable. They also verify the machine is concentrating oxygen. The respironics has an oxygen purity indicator option too.

Any thoughts on new vs. used and issues with maintaining your own machine?

Filovirus

[SleepWellCPAP]

My first concern in this post is that your DME company isn't accepting the allowed amount from your insurance as payment in full. Unless a patient is wanting a nonstock, highend special order item, there should be no out of pocket unless you have a deductible or copay to cover.

As far as the ad infinitum rental arrangement on oxygen concentrators, that is unfortunately the way of the world. Years back, Medicare toyed with the idea of transferring title to the equipment to the patients, but then backed off by lowering the number of months paid and obligating the providers to maintain the devices up to the 5 year point.

Respironics makes a good quality unit that seems to have stood the test of time and so does Invacare. If it were me, I would probably buy an Invacare PerfectO2, simply because they have been in the concentrator business for so long.

On the new verses used issue, as long as the unit is running smoothly with less than 500 hours, and no detectible odor from around the machine after about 15 minutes of run time, I think you would be safe to make an offer. In most cases people are just looking to get rid of the item and you could probably negotiate a good price. The new units aren't near as expensive as they used to be. In fact, dealer cost now is probably in the $400 to $600 range and most are willing to talk turkey.

Good luck!