I Know I've Complained about Apria in the past...

[Janknitz]

End of the story, I sent the payment information with a copy of my original receipt documents from when I picked up the machine. I don't want them thinking that I didn't want to pay.....

I'm amazed you got the machine in the first place. Ordinarily they call and DEMAND (I do mean demand--they do not ask nicely) the co-pay before they will ship anything (they do not deliver and will not let you pick up items in their local office--at least for Kaiser patients). I've heard of them refusing to provide supplies and equipment to people who have 100% coverage because they want the 20% co-pay (which does not exist) up front first.

[SleepyT]

Ok...you guys are scaring me!

[sleeplessinaz]

Ok --on a good note--I use Apria all the time and NEVER had a problem. My CPAP stuff is 100% covered by my Cigna insurance and I just call them to tell them what i need and they ship it. NEVER had anything go wrong---they NEVER have sent me the wrong items as someone has stated previously. Nothing bad --they are very friendly when I call on the phone too so I am not sure why some of you are having such a bad experience with them. LOVE APRIA!!!

[chunkyfrog]

One of the Apria sales reps clued me in on the doc's specific RX (stating medical necessity) to get insurance pay for my headgear before scheduled time.
This was at the Support group meeting--She's the competitor to my own DME.

[GTOJim]

Ok --on a good note--I use Apria all the time and NEVER had a problem. My CPAP stuff is 100% covered by my Cigna insurance and I just call them to tell them what i need and they ship it. NEVER had anything go wrong---they NEVER have sent me the wrong items as someone has stated previously. Nothing bad --they are very friendly when I call on the phone too so I am not sure why some of you are having such a bad experience with them. LOVE APRIA!!!

I'm envious, it's been the exact opposite for me. I ordered a cushion and filter on Oct 4th, still waiting. Most of my orders they ship the wrong items, filters are always wrong. Same thing when my wife orders.

I wish I could get out from being under the Apria umbrella but unfortunately it's the only DME my insurance will let me use. It's not unusual for me to order on-line and pay out of pocket rather than dealing with Apria. Maybe the insurance wants this, it saves them money.

Count your blessings that Apria has been wonderful for you.

[BrownEyes]

I LOVE APRIA.

i have no problems with them.

my problems with Apria comes from insurance changes, when my Doctors change (i am about to have another PP after only not even a year and a half) but they still had my old Doctors down on my paperwork and the old Doctors would send me letters telling me that Apria had not updated their paperwork on me

and i only have had a problem when one Doctor didnt want to be responsible for my oxygen equipment so he left it up to one specific Doctor and me and Apria was caught in the crossfire

but problems with equipment, i have no problem.

the only thing i dont like is when i am being discharged from the hospital, they always have to bring me and oxygen tank to go home with, but they always ask the one question, "can someone fill your tank up and bring it to you" and i give them the same answer "nope"

but other than that i really love Apria and wouldnt change them for the world

[Shellie_p]

I hope you get what you ordered. Apria will call me, I will order, and get all stuff I didn't order and nothing I did order. When I call them about this I have to have the correct part numbers ready so I can give them the info they need to get the right parts to me. Then I have them send me a call tag to send everything that was wrong back to them. It usually takes a couple of calls to get everything straightened out.
Good Luck,

Brenda

Brenda,

You took the words right out of my mouth. That is EXACTLY how it goes with Apria.

When they call you and ask you if you "need" anything ( mask, supplies etc.) you have to remember that they are not doing it out of concern or as a cust. svc to the patient. They are making an unsolicited telephone sales call. If they can talk you into ordering something, it's money in THEIR pocket.

Worse.... when you agree to order a replacement mask, they wont' send you what you had before or what you order.... they will send you whatever they want. I have sent many items back and then have to fight with them to get what I actually ordered.

In summary.... Apria Sucks !

Now see I have been using Apria for 8 years and have NEVER had these kinds of issues, they never call out of the blue, they do however call back a couple times after getting a new machine or a new mask, to make sure its working out for you. I never get calls about parts, I have on occasion gotten snail mails, like when my 5 years was up and I was eligable for a new machine.
I have always gotten the right parts, my biggest complaint is they want me to come in everytime, even if its just a new nasal pillows, which is a pain its a 30 Minute drive and my other half works while there open so I have to beg a ride from family/friends to go.

It saddens me to see people having issues with Apria cause mine at least has gone out of there way for me a few times now. To keep me with a working machine, so it HAS to be a individual manager or something that is different from each site.

Both me and my daughter use them and have had no issues really.. Not from them. Insurance company or doctors yes. But Apria has been able to either work out or get around all the snafus we have had in the past. From insurance saying a XPAP wasn't needed to a doctor who REFUSED to write me a perscription for a machine when my fist one of 4 years died on me one friday afternoon. I had to go the weekend without one but the people at Apria
once my doctor outright refused to write it, went around him and back to the ORIGINAL place I had my test done, Badgered them over the weekend till they pulled the records out of the archive, to get the documents faxed to them so I could get a new machine.

Now both the RT's that handle sleep apnea actually HAVE Apnea and at least know/understand it so much more then past RT's. Maybe that's why I never have issues they are familiar enough with apnea and the machines etc they don't make as many mistakes. I guess

[GTOJim]

It is wonderful hearing the nice things being said about Apria, it is how a person would hope/expect to be treated as a customer. Unfortunately not the case for me, it's been 7 or 8 years I've been using Apria.

My local office has different people/RT's that deal with customers based on their insurance provider. The RT I have dealings with also has sleep apnea, also his wife. At least in my case it made no difference, it was still very poor service to put it nicely. This RT give me a factory sealed box containing my new XPAP machine, did not set the pressure per my doctors prescription. I've had many other such dealings with this RT. Unfortunately I can not think of one pleasant experience.

I realize there are customers that will never be happy but I don't feel that is my case.

I'm so frustrated right now, having several billing issues pending that I've spent many hours attempting to resolve. Unfortunately it seems I'm just spinning my wheels so to speak. I take pride in having a good credit score, always paying my bills on time or early. It's very upsetting to be threatened by Apria they would turn me over to a collection agency if I didn't pay a past due balance at that very moment. This was for returned items, (Apria shipped the wrong items) and had received a refund check. This happened during a call I made to Apria regarding a different billing problem, I called them, first time I knew about it.

Sorry for repeating if you read my previous posts.

An update to the $275 refund I received from Apria which was my forth and final payment for my new CPAP. I took a copy of the check to my local Apria office for the branch manager since she never called me back. She still has not called. I will file the check away, never cashing it, I know at some future date Apria will demand the money.

I fully agree with what was previously stated. In my experience Apria does not ask for your co-pay they demand it. For years I was told they will not ship until I pay a 20% co-pay even though my insurance covered 100%. Something I could count on with every single order. They did the same to my wife when she joined me as a hose head.

I feel like I've got a monkey on my back with Apria right now. Maybe going forward I should just make every purchase out of pocket. I did consider paying $1,100 out of pocket for my new machine rather than dealing with Apria. But decided not to, I'm paying a lot of money for health insurance, $1,700+ in premiums every month after tax, over and above the employer portion. No I'm not in a high income bracket, just trying squeak by like most people. My DME co-pay is now 50% some of my medications cost $50 each per month. My insurance coverage isn't anything special.

I had to fight Apria tooth and nail so to speak to get the S9 auto, Apria stating my insurance company would not cover an S9, they wouldn't accept my doctors prescription, the process took 4 hours. I was exhausted by the time we finished. I've had a much easier time purchasing a new vehicle from a car dealership. LOL.

[Patrick A]

APRIA RIPOFF still stinks. Liberty isn't much better. But dealing with Obama Care oops I meant Medicare sucks any way.

[SleepyT]

Ok...update! Today I received exactly what I ordered. I got 4 ResMed filters....3 xs pillows for my mask, and a replacement cushion for my Quattro. Miracles DO happen!

[kens98]

I am still very new to this (less than a month so far). I am really surprised with all of the issues with Apria and Kaiser.

I have both and really have no complaints with either so far. It is considered preventative care so Kaiser has picked up 100% of the bills (Sleep study was $12K alone and I had 3 different studies).

It did take Apria 4 days to confirm the sleep study results and verify the insurance. After that, I was in the following day to pick up the machine and they covered every little detail about it and what they would do for me during this entire process.

They followed up 2 weeks after just to see how things were coming along. At that time, my wife complained that I was "blowing rasberries". He called back the next day saying he had it approved thru my doctor and the insurance to receive a ffm which should help. I just picked that up today so I am hoping that it helps her sleep tonight.

Maybe, it is just a honeymoon period.

[GTOJim]

I am still very new to this (less than a month so far). I am really surprised with all of the issues with Apria and Kaiser.

I have both and really have no complaints with either so far. It is considered preventative care so Kaiser has picked up 100% of the bills (Sleep study was $12K alone and I had 3 different studies).
--It did take Apria 4 days to confirm the sleep study results and verify the insurance. After that, I was in the following day to pick up the machine and they covered every little detail about it and what they would do for me during this entire process.

They followed up 2 weeks after just to see how things were coming along. At that time, my wife complained that I was "blowing rasberries". He called back the next day saying he had it approved thru my doctor and the insurance to receive a ffm which should help. I just picked that up today so I am hoping that it helps her sleep tonight.

Maybe, it is just a honeymoon period.

Another nice Apria story.

I've only had one follow up call which was over a year after I received my second machine, I think it was really a survey.

A full face mask is good to have on hand even if you think it's not really necessary. It can be very handy if you have a cold.

I was blowing raspberries when I first started, air was escaping between my lips. I switched to a full face mask 7 or 8 years ago and still use a full face mask.

You got very fast service. It took my wife and I each about a month from the time of the sleep study to get a CPAP. My local Apria office waits until they have a group of people to give out CPAP machines. Someone in my wife group asked regarding nasal masks what happens of you have a cold? The Apria RT recommended not using the CPAP until you recover from the cold. This is not good advice. You should always use your machine when ever you sleep or nap.

Welcome to the forum, you will get a lot of good advice. There is a lot to learn.

I'll give Apria a call tomorrow, it's been about a month since I ordered supplies. I'm sure my order will not be found in their system, certainly will not be the first time.

[GTOJim]

An update as to what has been going on the past 3 weeks with Apria.

Called Apria to follow up on my order for CPAP supplies. The order was in their computer but for some undetermined reason it had not been processed. Apria shipped my order after charging my credit card an $85 co-pay. The good news, for a change I received exactly what was ordered. The bad news, I received a bill from Apria with a balance due of $85 for CPAP supplies. I checked, my credit card had charged prior to the bill being generated.

Today I received a phone call from Apria, I have a balance owing of $300+ for my S9 CPAP, the bill will arrive very soon via USPS. I nicely explained the amount owed is incorrect, it is a larger amount than my insurance company has authorized Apria to charge.

I also explained to the person who phoned today, I previously asked Apria for an accounting for $100 they deducted from a check intended to pay off my CPAP machine. Apria refunded my payment minus $100. Apria would not account for the $100 deduction, gave up after having 4 phone calls disconnected. Today's caller also did not explain the $100 deduction from my check.

My insurance company has authorized as my responsibility to pay Apria a total of $390.79. As best as I am able to determine Apria is billing $450+ for the S9 assuming I receive the $300+ bill from Apria.

Prior to these latest billing issues I had opened grievances with my insurance company, grievances with Apria's corporate office, yet Apria never stops.
So far I've only received standard form letter type of responses from my insurance. Grievances opened with Apria's corporate office result in a return phone call from a clueless person in India.

In the past I've purchased out of pocket, an Auto CPAP, so many face masks I've lost count, tubing, filters, etc. This time around I dug my heals in and decided to fight, but I'm getting close to once again waving the white flag, paying for a lot of this out of pocket without insurance.

[chunkyfrog]

I spoke to Apria rep on the phone the other day, scouting for a new DME;
When she let it slip that $400 for a mask was not a shock to her, I found an excuse to end the conversation.

[GTOJim]

I spoke to Apria rep on the phone the other day, scouting for a new DME;
When she let it slip that $400 for a mask was not a shock to her, I found an excuse to end the conversation.

In the past Apria has billed my insurance $1,100 for mask, filters, and tubing. My insurance will only allow a small fraction of what Apria bills. The insurance companies will only pay the contracted amount, not the amount Apria bills.

A few months ago I got a new S9 auto fom Apria. Since my insurance recently changed, now having a 50% co-pay I attempted to determine what my total out of pocket cost would be. After driving out to my local branch Apria quoted " the walk in price to me was $2,500 for machine only, making it sound like I was getting a special deal. So I when home I phoned Apria asking again what my total cost would be, I was quoted $1,500 as my portion of the 50% co-pay again this was for machine only, humidifier is extra.

Knowing the insurance is not going to pay $1,500 as their half, the next day I drove back out to Apria. Let me tell you, it is much easier to purchase a new vehicle from a car dealer than it was getting an S9 from Apria. Apria telling me my insurance will not cover and S9 auto, then they they would not accept my doctors prescription written for an auto CPAP. I ended up dealing with the branch manager, the entire process took over 4 hours, I was totally exhausted, my brain was mush when we finished. They never did quote me what my total out of pocket cost would for the machine. Much later I phone Apria's billing department and was quoted $760 as the total price. It seems my insurance ended up authorizing $390 as my total co-pay which was close.