Nasal congestion with pillows

[catmama]

So when I go back next week tell the doctor I want another machine.My sleep clinic and doctor and people that gave me the
machine are in the same place so I thought they all worked together. I thought I had the same machine as my 77 yr old mother
but looked at hers and it is a S9 auto something. I am 52 and have it worse than her and she has a better machine. If you guys did
not tell me I would not know. Thank you I will let you know. My insurance said it is up to DME to switch it since they have already
paid for the one I have but it is not even a month old.

[catmama]

I called today and they told me I would have to pay 100 dollars to upgrade to a S9 Elite and 350 to upgrade to Autoset. They
said they start everyone on the Escape which I don't believe.My machine is in house so I never saw the script from the doctor
but insurance says they have paid for the machine and it is up to DME to swap out. Is is right to charge me more and is Auto better.

[Pugsy]

It depends on your insurance company and their contract with your supplier if it is legal to charge the upcharge for either of the full data machines.

The Autoset is like 2 machines in one because it can be used in auto pressure mode (APAP) and straight pressure mode (CPAP). The Elite is straight CPAP with full data...your Escape is straight CPAP with no data except hours of use.

Having APAP is handy for some...needed for better treatment for some.... and not needed by others. Some people actually prefer CPAP over APAP when they do have a choice. It is nice to have the choice though. Is it $350 worth of choice... even if it is legal to do the upcharge? I guess it depends on your wallet. Is it critical to your therapy to have APAP available? No, not critical. You can get effective therapy on the Elite CPAP. Heck, you can get effective therapy with the Escape providing you don't have any problems anywhere that needs to be figured out and worked on.

[Burkebang]

I called today and they told me I would have to pay 100 dollars to upgrade to a S9 Elite and 350 to upgrade to Autoset. They
said they start everyone on the Escape which I don't believe.My machine is in house so I never saw the script from the doctor
but insurance says they have paid for the machine and it is up to DME to swap out. Is is right to charge me more and is Auto better.

For most people Auto is way better than constant pressure CPAP. Autos gives you the therapy you need and no more than you need.
Using me as an example, I would have to have a constant CPAP pressure of 15 cm H2O to control my apneas, which is like trying to sleep in a hurricane. With my automatic CPAP machine, I set the min pressure to 5 and the max pressure to 20. This means that I can go to sleep every night at a very comfortable and low pressure, there is no ramp time that times out and sets off a hurricane. When I have a good night, the machine stays at low pressures ALL night long, like 7-8 cm H2O. These nights I sleep like a baby and wake up feeling great. More and more nights are like this now that I have been on CPAP for a little while.
With a constant pressure machine, you'd never know if you had a good night, you'll get the same hurricane every night. The worst thing about contant pressure CPAP is that they can not react to worsening cases or bad nights, that requires higher pressures than the machine is set for. They will just stupidly continue to crank out the same pressure, even if you are choking. So do make sure you get an automatic CPAP. Even if it's a S9 Escape Auto, it's much better than the one you have.

The machine you have costs $758 https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... chine.html
Upgrading to a S9 Elite should cost you an additional $50 https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/resme ... chine.html
Upgrading to a Autoset should cost you an additional $100. https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/resme ... chine.html

Anything more than this is not fair. I would call $350 fraud.

On the other hand, if what you want to do is to really monitor your CPAP therapy, you can get a recording pulseoximeter:
http://www.pulseoxstore.com/Downloadable-Pulse-Ox.html
This data tells you the true effect that your treatment has on your body. The data from CPAP machines can't do that.
Sample Oximetryreport

[jimnsc]

Because it has been mentioned here I wanted to quote a piece about Neti pot usage found on WEBMD.

Use distilled, sterile, or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution.

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-pa ... ots?page=2

Tap water will be different wherever you live and contain varying amounts of pollutants that can be tolerated better by drinking the tap water rather than putting it through your nasal passages. I presume the nasal passages are more sensitive than the throat and gullet. The national news recently reported several deaths traced to Neti Pot usage due to a germ that can affect your brain. True or false - why take a chance by using untreated tap water when medical science advises you to use distilled, sterile, or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution? Just wanted to issue the warning - I use a Neti Pot myself but never with untreated tap water!

[archangle]

Why did they give me this one if it does not give any info and any suggestion on how I get them to switch it?

They would let you die in your sleep and sell your organs if they thought they could make money off of it.

I am surprised the insurance companies don't wake up and figure out that they'd save a lot of money long term because you'd get better therapy, fewer other medical problems, have fewer followup office visits, and need fewer repeat sleep tests if you had a good, data capable auto CPAP machine.

However, maybe they've calculated that bad CPAP treatment saves them money because a lot of the CPAP clients have other health problems and bad CPAP saves them money because the unprofitable patients die sooner.

[catmama]

Thank you for all the info. I only use distilled water with Neilmed packets and it has helped. My husband has argued with DME about
charging us more even told them he knows how much insurance gave them. They said they give everyone the Escape and they have to pay extra for anything else. He told them they must make money on everyone then because not all insurance pays the same so why
give the same machine.Do the doctors know they do this. I am going to have a talk with mine when I go back about this.It seems to me the DME would at least inform me of this when they give me the machine in the first place and tell me of the extra charge at that time. I will have to dish out 100 dollars for Elite I do not have 350 for Auto. The Resmed website says if your pressure is below 10 you
do not need Auto.Mine is 7.