Respironics MAP Policy Discussion

[Jim9352]

Edited By Moderator: After discussions with Respironics, Mr. Pflueger has indicated he continues to be employed as the MAP policy administrator and that no changes to their existing MAP Policy have occurred as of 3/6/2009. Additionally, these guest posts are suspect given their timing and the nature of their content.

Great news to all CPAP users and sleep apnea suffers. Learned that Resprironic has ended its price control practice for dealers. I would call your DME to get a lower price for all your suppliers and devices. New prices on websites should be coming soon.

[SetAZ]

I heard the Mr. Pflueger at the company moved to a diferent department. I think the whole idea frustrated everyone. Great news this is.

[Gale Hawkins]

That is good news. There is some movement on the hearing aid side of things its seems but nothing in print. Obama had a meeting about acts that makes medical care more expensive than it should be. Price fixing may get the boot.

[KelliMe]

Wonder if politics and the government have them running scared.

[Wulfman]

Wonder if politics and the government have them running scared.

My guess would be the stock market (among other things, like "profits").

Den

[jailerbreeth]

This is great news ---- looking forward to a new machine
I heard something new was coming out that looks like an iPOD.
Anyone hear this?

[Debjax]

This is great news ---- looking forward to a new machine
I heard something new was coming out that looks like an iPOD.
Anyone hear this?

No, but my son would tell you that "there's an app for that"....

[Linus]

Free market economy: Win.
Price controls: BAD.

[Slinky]

I'm sure you are right, Linus ..... and yet ..... I keep thinking how I'd like to stick some wage controls on a lotta, lotta CEOs in this country..... and getting serious w/these Ponzi scheme crooks. Like stripping Madoff who made off w/so many people's money right down to $60,000 a year to live on and no more than $100,000 in assets (which is still more than what I have). Same thing for Stanford. And, you know what? Same thing for all the mucky-mucks at AIG and ...

Then there's all those politicians in Washington who fudge on their taxes ... its a way of life there .... what's a just penalty for them? Aside from losing the appointment they thought they had. We need something special for Geitner ....

[DME Daddy]

As a buyer of pallet loads of Respironics equipment, I am surprised by what has been posted. This sort of news is normally forwarded to dealers in an organized manner. Where are the supporting facts? The first two posts are four minutes apart by two different posters. Seems unusual that two such knowledgeable posters posted so fast, followed by commentary only. Can anyone confirm this story with facts, copy of letter, etc?

[roster]

As a buyer of pallet loads of Respironics equipment, I am surprised by what has been posted. This sort of news is normally forwarded to dealers in an organized manner. Where are the supporting facts? The first two posts are four minutes apart by two different posters. Seems unusual that two such knowledgeable posters posted so fast, followed by commentary only. Can anyone confirm this story with facts, copy of letter, etc?

DD,

Let me speculate a little bit here. I suspect the first two guest posts were by anonymous employees (or their friends) of Respironics who were unhappy with the Marketing Manager, Bob Pflueger, http://www.spoke.com/info/pBUYzxn/BobPflueger . The post may not even be true but could be a way these employees are using to try to move the company away from the policy and get revenge against Pflueger.

When Respironics implemented so-called "price controls", there is not necessarily a united front within Respironics. I can imagine this may have made some sales managers and sales reps quite unhappy. The tone of this post is a big clue:

I heard the Mr. Pflueger at the company moved to a diferent department. I think the whole idea frustrated everyone. Great news this is.

That is just my speculation having lived in the middle of 35 years of corporate politics.

If the lifting of "price controls' is true, it is good news!

[johnnygoodman]

Howdy All And Good Morning,

I got LASIK yesterday (texaslasik.com / Allegretto Wave). I was fortunate that it was a well executed procedure and I was cared for by a very loving wife. That said, this morning I woke up to "dear, how are you feeling? Great. Now about this CPAPtalk thread..."

We too buy pallets of stuff from Respironics. My father will be in contact with Respironics today.

That being said, the writing is on the wall for Respironics if they continue these policies. All they have done is shifted the business from Respironics to their competitors. See our consumer preferences for an overview:

https://www.cpap.com/cpap-user-preference.php

More as it develops.

Johnny

[Wulfman]

Thanks for the update(s) "Birthday Boy".
Glad to hear the surgery went well, too.

I have a feeling that if this "downturn" continues, we're going to see and experience things that only occur in bad dreams.

Den

[Slinky]

Johnny, we're all glad to hear that your Lasix surgery went well!

Resmed started this MAP policy bit and their MAP policy was more strict than Respironics'. Fisher & Paykel also jumped on the MAP bandwagon as I remember it. And buyers were able to find the "true" price by calling the online suppliers' toll-free number or adding the item to their shopping cart to find the "true" price they would be paying .... I don't see where the Respironics MAP policy hurt them any more than Resmed's or Fisher & Paykel's hurt them.

It looks more to me that it is more the poor economic times and people who must pay out of pocket or want just a travel, maybe even backup CPAP, are buying the lowest cost devices. And my guess is that the M Series hasn't helped Respironics either, despite their small size. The general consensus has been that the pre-M Series was and is much the better device and the only improvement w/the M Series has been A-Flex to the Autos.