My insurance quest for a Bleep

[HD4Mark]

I am still calling DMEs on the list from my insurance. Last call they never heard of Bleep and will not try to get one. I did order one that will be here in two days so I get to try it out and if I don't like it stop fighting the system.

[Dreaming1]

My understanding is that Lincare is slow rolling it out in some places. You should call Stuart and confirm that: 919-619-7170. If that’s true, Lincare’s the biggest supplier of all things pap and has the majority of most contracts to bill on.

[Pugsy]

My understanding is that Lincare is slow rolling it out in some places. You should call Stuart and confirm that: 919-619-7170. If that’s true, Lincare’s the biggest supplier of all things pap and has the majority of most contracts to bill on.

It's very selective with Lincare at this time and I got confused about it as to where it was offered. Lincare accepts or has contracts with a lot of insurance plans.
I didn't do the happy dance about Lincare getting partially on board though....their customer service sucks from what I hear and I hear the billing is even worse.
My first choice for cpap equipment back in 2009 was a local Lincare office who ended up getting fired before I even got a machine from them.....long story there but they did several things wrong with me and the first was lie to me.
Now maybe their online service is better but I won't be holding my breath.

I didn't tell Stuart that I refer to Lincare as LinIdon'tcare. I didn't want to burst his bubble.
Maybe the Bleep stuff is so specific they can't screw up the orders or billing.

[HD4Mark]

Well I bought the Bleep and ports from Amazon so I can still attempt to find a DME in my network that can supply me with them at my leisure. After two nights I can honestly say that after all the different masks, pillows and screwin' around this is the best solution. I sleep all night now, something I rarely do. It weighs nothing and after only a short time I got used to the ports stuck on me. There is a slight learning curve to clicking it onto the ports but no big deal.

So even if I never find a way for my insurance to pick up the tab it is worth the money to me.

I did look into Lincare. They have a local office and are in my network. They had never heard of Bleep when I called and like others have no intention of trying to get one. So fingers crossed Stuart can strike up a deal with them.

[Pugsy]

The LinCare thing is an experiment on LinCare's part and only in some localities or online. As expected your local office isn't part of the experiment.

There are ways to self pay that are cheaper though depending on if we want to buy in bulk or not. Obviously don't want to buy in bulk until we first know if we like the Bleep or not but once you know...there are ways to reduce the cost. I made a thread about one way.

When I use my insurance for a mask my copay used to run about $24. I say used to since I haven't used my insurance for a mask since I got the Bleep so it might be more for all I know. My co pay for the nasal pillow portion was around $7 per pillow or 14 bucks a month if I adhered to the replacement schedule. If I could get my lazy assed DME to supply the Bleep to me...that would be my out of pocket cost since insurance will reimburse for the Bleep just like it would for any other nasal mask or replacement pillows/cushions.

If I buy in bulk the ports...I could get the cost down to about $.78 a day or about $24 a month for the ports. Yes, still more than my insurance but not horribly more at least for me with the insurance I have. $24 a month self pay or $14 a month for pillows. Now I will admit that I never replaced the pillows that often but if I were to do that...that is the comparison.

Everyone has to do their own math and figure out what they want to do. It all depends on co pay, insurance and deductibles how it works out for each person and then they have to factor in whether the cost is worth it to them or not. I realize that for some people the cost would be prohibitive and might even take food off the table when on a really tight budget...it is what it is. I wish I had a solution for those but I don't.

I figured that Murphy's Law would step in and you would like the Bleep and have to continue your quest to find a DME that works with your HMO insurance and wants to actually serve you. It won't be easy for sure.

Oh...Stuart is wanting examples of before and after data...now that you have tried the Bleep you can get some free ports from him if you participate. I have a thread about it here. I don't know how long after data he might want so might be a bit but you could send him an email and ask.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=180926&p=1372576&hi ... p#p1372576

[HD4Mark]

I think I may have won the battle thanks to Pugsys suggestion to call Stuart and his help.

I was going to call Stuart but it was New Years day so instead I used Bleeps contact info@bleepsleep.com Not ten minutes later I get a text from guess who? Stuart contacted Scott Rogers at Lincare and gave me his number. Scott contacted me and indeed they are rolling our Bleep at some Lincare locations. He then contacted Pete Butkevich (excuse the spelling if it is wrong) at the nearest Lincare that is in my insurance network and he agreed to get onboard. I emailed Pete and one of his people called me right back. After exchanging info with her my Insurance is good with it, listed what I needed and the process is in the works.

It has been about a week with the Bleep I bought and still getting used to the whole set up and stuff but it works tremendously better than any of the masks/pillows I have tried so far. For whatever reason I have not had to pay any co-pay for DME so far so this will be a good thing.

I don't think I will tell my friends that I wear a bikini to bed at night

[Pugsy]

Who said "it's not what you know but who you know" that's important?

It's been a struggle for Stuart to get local DME offices on board to at least offer the Bleep to people. I don't understand the reluctance because in reality it is a cash cow for them with the replacement ports sales. I would be using my insurance allowance every month with the ports and with the nasal pillow they might get to sell me a new nasal pillow once every 8 months or so.
Duh....sell 2 boxes of ports a month for 8 months or 1 nasal pillow every 8 months and maybe make $20 profit on one sale...guess which one generates more sales dollars???

If I was the owner of a DME....I would be on the Bleep selling band wagon real fast. Cash cow. It might involve a little more hands on with the patient at first showing them how to use it but after that people would be a regular monthly customer instead of once every 8 months customer. Only reason I can think of as to why they don't get on the bandwagon....lazy.

No, the Bleep isn't going to be for everyone but there's not a mask out there that is for everyone.
But people deserve the chance to at least try whatever mask they want to try and it shouldn't be this difficult to use our insurance to get what we want.

[mets123]

I am now three months with the bleep mask and I love it. It is so nice not to have all the gear on your face. I get no leaks and don’t have to constantly adjust the mask at all. I am on a bilevel machine and don’t feel the pressure at all. I also spoke to Stuart and he also recommended Lincare. I will be due for supplies in a month and hope they are easy to work with.

[Goofproof]

Who said "it's not what you know but who you know" that's important?

So True I went into a new job field, the Corp only hired from State Employment Offices, so I applied filled out 4 pages of forms and took them to the clerk. He said there was 5,000 people ahead of me waiting for the job and I didn't have a chance.

I told him what mattered is the people doing the hiring. I was in the job in two weeks, took my job interview in the local watering hole parking lot in a thunderstorm, in my car by the Mine manager.

The Mine Manager called me at home, three days later and said he had been moved to another Surface Mine closer to where I lived, so he moved me to that Mine also! Life Changed. 20 years no lost time accidents. Jim