Lincare

jaxdaddy · Post by **jaxdaddy** » Fri May 30, 2008 8:42 pm

Does anyone deal with this provider? It has been nothing short of a disaster for me for the last 17 months. Delivery of supplies is less than reliable but I receive a bill without fail.

Should I start shopping for supplies on my own and drop these fools? HELP!

jrfoster · Post by **jrfoster** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:11 pm

I use Lincare as my DME and have found them to be friendly, helpful and always calling to ask if I need something. I think that each individual office is different depending on the people that work there.

I am fortunate to have such caring people at my local Lincare office.

Jeff

CUatX · Post by **CUatX** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:14 pm

I interviewed them while looking for a DME. My BS-o-meter pegged out almost immediately, so I hot-footed it outa there pronto.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:14 pm

Well, by now you must have completed any capped rental of your xPAP you had w/Lincare.

Call your insurance company and ask them what local DME CPAP suppliers they are contracted w/other than Lincare. Hopefully, you will have other local DME supplier options.

When I switched I made it clear my term w/my previous DME supplier had been considerably less than satisfactory.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:30 pm

I was "strongly encouraged" by my doctor's office to go to Lincare. I didn't know that I was really offered an option. I am just starting out but feel like I have no idea which providers are better or worse.

alnhwrd · Post by **alnhwrd** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:33 pm

The people that I deal with in the local Lincare office are very nice, friendly, and try to be helpful. But their billing practices border on mail fraud.

For my original set up, they billed me for the CPAP, and for each individual piece of equipment, like the hose, the mask cushion, the filter, etc. The rental has been $200 a month for six months. The final month they charged me the monthly rental and the payoff for the CPAP. When I called to inquire they said, "oops, our bad" and took off the rental. They charge $54 for a hose, when I can get one on CPAP.Com for $10. Mask cushions are twice the cost of CPAP.Com. I have yet to be able to fully reconcile the bills I get from them with my EOB from my insurance. And, if I am ten seconds late getting them their money, they send me a nasty collections letter.

My insurance will re-imburse my costs through CPAP.com at 60%, but Lincare at 80%. So since Lincare charges twice what cpap.com does, I will still be way ahead. Also, I don't want to give them anymore money than I have to at this point. I really don't mind them making a profit, but the disparity in prices between the companies seems pretty wide.

But the lady at the front desk IS very nice!

OldLincoln · Post by **OldLincoln** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:59 pm

alnhwrd wrote:The people that I deal with in the local Lincare office are very nice, friendly, and try to be helpful. But their billing practices border on mail fraud.

For my original set up, they billed me for the CPAP, and for each individual piece of equipment, like the hose, the mask cushion, the filter, etc. The rental has been $200 a month for six months. The final month they charged me the monthly rental and the payoff for the CPAP. When I called to inquire they said, "oops, our bad" and took off the rental. They charge $54 for a hose, when I can get one on CPAP.Com for $10. Mask cushions are twice the cost of CPAP.Com. I have yet to be able to fully reconcile the bills I get from them with my EOB from my insurance. And, if I am ten seconds late getting them their money, they send me a nasty collections letter.

My insurance will re-imburse my costs through CPAP.com at 60%, but Lincare at 80%. So since Lincare charges twice what cpap.com does, I will still be way ahead. Also, I don't want to give them anymore money than I have to at this point. I really don't mind them making a profit, but the disparity in prices between the companies seems pretty wide.

But the lady at the front desk IS very nice!

I was about ready to string up my DME for charging insurance $250/month for 13 months. One day I was discussing the time left on the agreement with the billing lady and asked her why it wasn't already paid off. She was very nice and said their contract only pays $86.90/month no matter what they bill. I checked and she was right. I don't know if this applies to your DME or not but I was sure surprised.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri May 30, 2008 11:03 pm

Lincare give me excelent service, I can always count on my order to arrive different from what I ordered and I don't have to worry about getting a knofe to open those plastic bags, they rip them all open before they send them to me. Jim

They do have a good saying, "They Never Bill A Dollar they Didn't Like".

xyz · Post by **xyz** » Fri May 30, 2008 11:07 pm

> I didn't know that I was really offered an option.

Your doctor doesn't offer you options, your insurance company does. Call them and ask what DMEs are allowed with your insurance plan.

jaxdaddy · Post by **jaxdaddy** » Sat May 31, 2008 11:24 am

I moved about 8 months ago and it never fails that whenever I need supplies, they are delivered to my old address and the bill comes to my current address. Have given the new address to the shippers 4 times and still no resolution. I asked my local office about deliver and they said my supplies had been shipped UPS and someone signed for them at the old address. Do they not look at a signature or a name whenever they receive delivery confirmation? AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! I also received some of the lovely collections calls and letters about late payments. I told them I'm NOT paying for items I didn't receive. Still waiting to see how this plays out. Advice from Jaxdaddy....run away as fast as you can from Lincare.

streetm3 · Post by **streetm3** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 3:41 pm

My horror adventure with the local Lincare is continuing until I will have gotten finished with the ten months in August; then, I will go with cpap.com.

I had not found this blog until after the ent dr sent these people to me.

The newly four month rt gave me a mask that looked like a one-eyed person wears, that is, with a one inch head rest. She asked me if it felt OK. The hose was about two feet long. I had to get on the floor to use the machine. Called the on-call rt who changed my mask. It fit somewhat better, and she gave me a hose long enough to reach my head on the bed.

A couple of months later, I found the internet site that helps to determine the correct size of my mask. I determined that the mask was too small and I needed a medium/large. The mask was a resmed ultra.

Upon telling the ent dr that I was taping my mouth shut, and upon complaining to the manager of the local Lincare manager that his rt did not know how to fit the mask, he grudgingly came with the rt to my house. Of course at my expense, the manager and the rt brought a sack full of mask and told me to pick one. This mask still leaks at my eyes and at the corners of my mouth. I have to tighten it until I awake with grooves from my nose to my mouth on both sides of my face.

In March BCBS sent me a letter saying to get with Lincare as they had billed me incorrectly. Now how can a big company make a mistake of this magnitude as to first not bill me for the deductible, then bill me 3 months later.

Lincare faithfully calls me every month to ask about filters which instead of selling me a six month supply, they sell me one month's supply and bills my insurance company for shipping me two filters. Unbelieviable.

Without all of you guys and gals, I could not have gotten this far. Thank you for being here.

m.fields · Post by **m.fields** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 4:47 pm

Linecare told me my insurance would only pay for Respironic Sleepeasy cpap and F&P 431 Mask Which was a lie.I called insurance and they said they would pay for whatever the doctor percribed.After 1 month i cared their machine back to them and called a new DME.

Coolcheeks · Post by **Coolcheeks** » Thu May 14, 2009 2:16 pm

I started with Lincare and it was not good. They guy who came to my house to fit the Mask had a headcold and was touching everything. Dumb me I wore the mask and you know what happened, right away I got a cold. Then I had a series of good and bad experiences until I left them only to find the other 2 medical supply places I tried were worse. So now I 'm back with Lincare. I go into the office and get pretty good service. However the main office for the midwest for replacement supplies calls me all the time even when I'm not interested. Otherwise I rate them C+. They could improve.

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