Apria?...

[AuntieNae]

I think they bargain on people not knowing or understanding the difference .. so give you the cheapest machine for highest profit.

I was not charged anything different for the first, Plus machine I was given ... then the third, Auto machine I now have.

[SnoozeButton]

As I said before I promptly dumped Apria, then my next DME gave me a Plus and told me the same line about it being fully data capable. I then discovered it wasn't and that it only showed compliance, also it was shutting itself off at night, so I went on-line and printed up all the info on the Auto and listed the reasons I felt my therapy would benefit from an Auto - weight loss could change my requirements, I have allergy problems that might affect the pressure requirement and whatever else I could think of that would make it beneficial to me. I then went to my Dr. and gave the sheet with all the info to his nurse and explained to her that I needed a more specific script in order to get that particular machine and that I had stated in writing the reasons I felt it would be beneficial to my treatment. I then called my DME and told them my machine was shutting itself off and that I needed to exchange it and furthermore I had a request in to my doctor for a script for an APAP. She then began to recite all their "lines" such as "APAPs are for doctors only", "Your insurance won't cover it because it will cost more than a CPAP" and the line you were given "The Plus is fully data capable". To each of these "lines" I countered with what I knew to be fact which flustered the tech so much that she finally said she would need to have their insurance coordinator call me back. We ended our conversation and I left the house to run some errands but before I could even get out of my driveway my cell phone rang. It was the tech calling back to say that if I could ask my Doctor to fax them the new script by our appointment on Monday (this was Friday evening) I could get my APAP. I did get my Auto that Monday and left with a warning from the tech that I might have to bring the machine back because my insurance might not cover it. That was November 17th and I have not heard anything from them since.

My suggestion is to either have your doctor write your script for machine of your choice or if you know exactly what you want then give him the name and model # of that machine so he/she can write the script to specifically state the machine you want. I would also state the reasons your treatment would warrant that particular machine (my thinking is to prove medical necessity to insurance company and to give my doctor the reason I needed that machine in case he was questioned by insurance - might be a non-issue, but it's good to cover your bases). I started out requesting an Auto thinking that would give me some bargaining room and I would settle for a Pro, but turns out I didn't have to.

[luke]

I remember being at this point just a short time ago. I had to just step back from it all
and read a TON of information here from these knowlegeable people before I went any further
or signed anything.



Luke

[DisneyFan]

Well, after so much pushing from hubby to go the apria appt. (he says I sleep soo good when I have the cpap)...I Went to my appt today.

When I got there they pulled out a brand new in the box resmed escape, now remember I was guaranteed yesterday a remstar m-series pro or plus, I chose the pro. I told the tech that was not the machine I requested and she said no problem and returned with a remstar m-series pro with the new swift lt for "her"...it is so comfortable when i tried it on and the tech was very very nice.
She said the pro was a good beginners machine for the first time user. It came with a smart card and she said I can purchase the software and get my data.

I asked alot of questions and she answered all of them..I had taken a list of questions and information taken from the forums(u guys are all so helpful).

I left satisfied and hopefully will remain the same with my cpap usage and Apria.

I just noticed that the front of the machine says respironics Remstar pro m series and a sticker in the back the same but there is lower back sticker that says mseries remstar/bipap??

[beachgurl_1988]

I have had good experiance with Apria. I live in Northern VA.

Don't skip the class tho. It was wonderfully informative, and i got to try on multiple masks and types of equipment. My Cpap is a Remstar M Series with heated humidifier.

Only qualm with Apria is that at the class, the rep stated that all the filters/tubing etc. would be automatically sent when it was time to be changed etc. and everytime have had to call them and request they send out a new filter or whatever. They do seem very fast on the orders though.