Newbie with Dilema

[freedom02]

I was diagnosed in June of 2005 with sleep apnea... I at the time had medical insurance. I no longer have insurance and am not able to obtain insurance due to diabetis. I am going to have to purchase my own machine... the one I have is rented. Currently I have a remstar pro. I was wondering if any of you have any suggstions on where to find one fairly cheap and a place that is reputible. I live in Wisconsin and am thinking I most likely will have to purchase from online or something. I am unemployeed and on temp disability and also due to have another surgery ( not related to sleep apnea) here in a couple weeks.

Thank you for taking the time to look at this and hope to hear from someone with any ideas.

[Snoredog]

you can check yahoo auctions, you can sometimes find a used machine for $250 or less.

[wading thru the muck!]

freedom02,

Do you have a current (dated less than a year ago) prescription for a cpap? If so, I would order a machine from cpap.com. You can get a good machine for $300.

[freedom02]

Thank you for responding. I just found out yesterday ( friday ) that I will no longer have insurance thus went into a panic mode -- something I tend to do. After attempting to sleep on it more. I am going to call the DME and see what they can offer me to purchase the one I have. If I feel that they are wanting more than I am willing or able to pay I will look into the other options you all mentioned. Again thank you for all your replies...

Pam aka freedom02

[sleepyred]

Maybe your DME has one that was returned or refurbished. I also agree - contact cpap.com. When my insurance company was twiddling their thumbs over mine, I almost bought one from them before the ins. company came through. I almost wish I'd bought from cpap.com after I saw what my insurance company was charged!

Good Grief!

[NightHawkeye]

When my insurance company was twiddling their thumbs over mine, I almost bought one from them before the ins. company came through. I almost wish I'd bought from cpap.com after I saw what my insurance company was charged!

I'm curious, sleepred, if you might have made a different decision, knowing then what you know now.

I'm not suggesting that worrying about what insurance pays should have been a concern. I'm just curious whether you got enough benefit to offset the hassle of going through the DME, or perhaps you got to try out various types of equipment that you wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

Regards,
Bill

[sleepyred]

When my insurance company was twiddling their thumbs over mine, I almost bought one from them before the ins. company came through. I almost wish I'd bought from cpap.com after I saw what my insurance company was charged!

I'm curious, sleepred, if you might have made a different decision, knowing then what you know now.

I'm not suggesting that worrying about what insurance pays should have been a concern. I'm just curious whether you got enough benefit to offset the hassle of going through the DME, or perhaps you got to try out various types of equipment that you wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

Regards,
Bill

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): cpap.com, DME

That's a hard question to answer! I do feel like we can be at the mercy of our ins. companies and DME's. And no, I did not get to try out different equipment!

I guess to honestly answer your question Bill, yes I'd do it different. I would have read as much as I could from this board and have bought from cpap.com and hopefully, bought what I thought was best for me. I just had surgery and my out of pocket would have been what a cpap would have cost me out of pocket.

I just have a problem when I see that my insurance bill was $2,600 for a cpap that I could have gotten for so much less on cpap.com. My insurance company calls them "out of network". My DME just charged me $458 for a breeze! It's covered (new insurance company) at 100%, but I know this will drive all our insurance costs up. Just my 2 cents worth!

I am going to save up for an Aura at some point or wait my 6 months and see if my DME will order one for me.

I'm one of those funny people who actually like a good fight with insurance companies and will give them a piece of my mind! I was determined that they would pay for this cpap and they finally did after repeated calls and an appeal from my doctor who wanted me to have it so much, he was willing to sell one of his from his office the week after I got mine.

Sorry for the long post!

[tomjax]

Do not get excited about the amt the dme charges your insurance.

They can charge anything they want, but are contracted for a certain amt. They do not pay the high price.
Same for masks.

I called apria just for fun and told them I was loooking for a breeze mask and did not have insurance. They offered to sell mw one for $720.00.
no thaks.

If life is rough and you cannot afford a cpap, I have an old back up a PB 318 compainion I bought a few years ago.
Person said it was in closet for years and never used. I used it for about a week once.

Will sell it cheap- very cheap- contact me if interested. clicician manual included-- east to set pressure.
tomjax@yahoo.com

[NightHawkeye]

I'm one of those funny people who actually like a good fight with insurance companies and will give them a piece of my mind! I was determined that they would pay for this cpap . . .

I'm glad that worked out for you sleepyred. I've fought with 'em enough in the past that I don't relish it anymore.

A few years ago when I had Aetna, they made a keystroke entry mistake and entered an ER visit for my daughter for $3300 instead of the $300 it actually should have been billed at. Since the hospital had contract rates with Aetna, it gave the hospital liberty to bill me more. Geez, what a mess. It took about six months and a dozen phone calls to both hospital and insurance company before I got that one resolved. (Needless to say, I detest dealing with Aetna.)

My personal opinion is that we'd all be better off scrapping the entire health insurance system and starting from scratch, so that everyone deals directly with their healthcare providers. That's kinda where I am now anyway with a high deductible policy.

Regards,
Bill

[sleepyred]

That's the truth, Bill! My insurance company won't cover my allergy shots because I get them at my ENT's office. I told my doctor that and asked for a cut in rate and he slashed the price.

The insurance rates are so very inflated - my recent hospital 4 hour out-patient surgery came to $7,500! The insurance company slashed it to $1,250 and I have to pay $250.

My son has asthma and they would not cover a drug for him. Wanted him on two inhalers instead of a discus thing. I got quotes from internet drugstores, local drugstores, wrote a letter and they agreed that this would be cheaper.

Funny birds, they are!

[deedster]

You might try http://www.awakeinamerica.org/. They help people with cpap equipment and sleep studies.

[snorzalot]

I have posted in the past that I was first diagnosed in 99' with OSA. Likewise, I was non compliant at the time. However, I have all new equipment, new pressure setting, mask, etc. I had "back in the day" put my old equipment in the top of my closet where it's been (in a box) for sevenish years now.

I got it down Saturday afternoon and determined it was a Fisher Paykel HC201 with heated humidifier. This machine has NO digital readouts or fancy dials sans the little knob to control humidification. However, it appears in good condition and I put a brand new (spare) humidifier canister for water on it (that was shrink wrapped) and I put a hose that was in plastic still to replace the older, still attached hose.

As best I can tell, it needs a new filter (I could never get one from the DME at the time) that appear to be $7-$20ish online depending on quantity. Other then a new filter and a mask, I'd guess it's still decent equipment. The old setting was 8 cm H2O, but I have no manometer to determine if it's still on the mark. Likewise, changing the pressure setting is apparently tedious as my new respiratory therapist noted you have to remove the cover and use wrenches to change the setting.

Since I "own" the equipment from 99', it's mine to sell/trade/barter/etc., but I'm leary about doing that since everywhere online requires a prescription. I also have no idea what it's worth now, but I would be willing to part with it if I were sure it was legal to do so and certain I wouldn't be liable for someone else using the equipment. I would really like to help someone out that needs the equipment, but I'm perplexed about liability.

Anyone ever sell their CPAP and seek/determine legal council?

Thanks!

[NightHawkeye]

I would really like to help someone out that needs the equipment, but I'm perplexed about liability.

Fortunately, I have no legal knowledge, so I'm forced to rely on common sense. It strikes me that your legal liability would be greater giving somebody an aspirin than a CPAP machine. Aspirin can kill, but I doubt that CPAP has that capability.

Also, as others have pointed out, Yahoo auctions lists CPAP machines. You should be able to get an idea of worth there. I suspect though that it's probably worth more as a tax deduction than as a saleable commodity (plus, you'll feel good about giving it away).

Regards,
Bill

[snorzalot]

I found out the difference between the HC200 and HC201. The 201 has monitoring built in for compliance, but I never recall the DME requesting that information in the past.

I'm going to call my RT friend tomorrow and ask her if she'll take a look at the machine if I bring it in and see if it has any labels or data that needs wiped. Likewise, I have a personal injury attorney friend I'll question during my visit to his office to fix his email tomorrow I'll let you know what I find.

Thanks

[snorzalot]

Incidentally, Freedom02 hold off on your purchase of the CPAP for another day or so. If I don't get any roadblocks from my RT or attorney friend, the equipment is yours.

Thanks