Does anyone have info about Apria?

[kaiya2465]

Has anybody ever used Apria before? I know nothing about this company & am looking for a different DME. Good or bad I need to know please.

Thank you

[Lizistired]

You will hear various opinions here.
I have been using Apria since I got my script in Dec 2010.
I did my homework before I went DME shopping. The local DME's were talking about 2 weeks to see the RT and then order a machine... I hand carried my script into Apria, told them what I wanted and had my machine in 3 days. I call when I need supplies, they come UPS the next business day. I really can't complain.
I got the wrong tube once, they exchanged it. They tried to schedule me an appointment for a "fitting" for a new mask. I declined and had it shipped straight to my house. I understand that they need to make money but...
I don't hear from them unless they need to verify billing. My rent to own is up this month, but I will probably stay with them. It's a convenient location if I need to go there. I also like having a nationwide DME in case I'm out of town and have problems.

[BlackSpinner]

Has anybody ever used Apria before? I know nothing about this company & am looking for a different DME. Good or bad I need to know please.

Thank you

I think people refer to it as "Crapria" here.

[kaiya2465]

Hmmm, I wonder if they are more Crapia than the one I have now

[Lizistired]

Best bet is to walk in the door and talk to them. You really do have to DME shop.

[kaiya2465]

True, but around here I am sure limited. But I will just go in & investigate, they are only 20 min.away instead of an hr.. There is only 1 more DME co. in the same area called Lincare, maybe I will go there too.

Thank you

[slumberer]

I use Apria because my HMO (Kaiser Permanente) uses them. I live in the Los Angeles area. I have dealt with them three or four times for replacement items and twice for a CPAP machine. They have always been very friendly and customer-oriented. This last time I walked in without an appointment (actually my appointment was for the following day, but I needed the CPAP machine that day), and they took care of me without a problem. My doctor at Kaiser is also great. I had to schedule a MWT to renew my pilot's medical certificate and he took care of all the arrangements and has ordered any equipment with Apria within 24 hours of me sending him an email.

Hope this helps

[Roger2]

Has anybody ever used Apria before? I know nothing about this company & am looking for a different DME. Good or bad I need to know please.

Thank you

The biggest problems I (and most others I know who are forced to use them) is in their billing department. They billed me for tow co Pays on my O2 equipment after the three year period Medicare allows them to bill. They refused to reimburse me so I complained to Anthem BCBS and they forced the issue so they finally dropped it. They also billed BCBS for $575 for the overnight use of a recording ox miter and had to bring it out a second time because they screwed the unit’s memory up. The unity they brought out was made by Resmed and I looked the unit up on their site and found it had a recommended retail price of $625 but Amazon had the same unit for $525. They tried to bill BCBS for both nights even though the screw up was their fault and then tried to soak me for a 20% copy on each charge which they are not allowed to do since there is no co pay for testing (generally). I did a capture of each price on this unit and faxed it to BCBS along with a copy of Apria's outrageous bill. They then denied the whole charge after which Apria tried to bill me for the entire amount that BCBS did not pay. After I told Apria where to stuff their bill and that under their contract with BCBS they are not allowed to bill the patient for ANYTHING except the co pay if there is one which in this case there was none.

That is just the tip of the iceberg for Apria, before I was on Medicare, like when they literally bribed an employee of my then lung doctor’s office after he went on a sabbatical, to send a phone prescription for some equipment which they delivered and billed the insurance company for. When my doctor got back early and I brought this to his attention he immediately fired the woman who falsified the prescription. Also, their driver who delivered my liquid O2 started to come by weekly to "cap" my tanks off and assured me that they would only bill for the amount delivered which was usually 10 to 12 pounds of lox. Under that insurance policy I had a limited amount each year for DME and they had used that up in two months with phony billing. When I discovered that I gathered everything I had and took it to our Attorney Generals office who began proceedings against Apria since I was not the only one who complained and almost got the booted out of Colorado. The AG I worked with at that time indecently was Ken Salazar who is now Senator Salazar.

I think I could easily fill several large volumes of books about their shady practices but this should give you some idea of what you might expect.

Roger

[kaiya2465]

Thanks for the info from you all, investigation time.

[jeremiahchub]

I use to use Apria till that new person there erased my machine and ended up costing me my job. They were supposed to just do a download, not mess with the machine. Needless to say I won't go back to them. I'll pay outright for supplies from cpap.com.

[Slinky]

*sigh* Unfortunately, your two local DME provider options are THE two national DME providers w/the WORST reputation.

On the bright side, SOME of their offices have good staff and treat you well and actually seem to know what the devil they are doing.

It is imperative that you visit both Lincare and Apria offices in person to enable you to choose the lesser of two evils - or maybe you will get lucky and one or both offices are good ones. You just never know.

I know you are anxious to get your equipment and get started but ... make sure you have all your ducks in a row, know what you want, know what your insurance allows, know about HCPCS code billing, know about the major manufacturers' mask exchange policy, etc. Be diplomatic, but be firm and confident. Go in looking bright and alert, shoulders straight, good, proud posture and body english. (In other works, YOU buffalo them rather than THEY buffalo you).