Newbie needs advice

[quote="Goofproof"]The REMstar Plus M CPAP, is the low end machine it doesn't see any useful data, if you want to take charge of your treatment, you want a better machine. The one they are trying to put you on, makes them the most profit./quote]

Hey there goofproof (love the name!)
Thanks for the heads up -- I'm calling today to make sure it's auto-titrating, heated humidifier, smartcard, etc. Will continue to add questions for my md/tech, DME, and insurance co., with all the good suggestions I've gotten from the informative and kind posts. Appreciate them all! Will follow-up today.

Cathy

[quote="Wulfman"]Hi Cathy,

Welcome to the forum!
I had also never participated in a forum till this one......looks like you're doing fine. I'd suggest (strongly) twisting their arms for the REMstar M Series Pro or the REMstar M Series Auto.
/quote]

Den,

Thanks so much for the encouragement and support! I'm definitely going to make sure what REMstar equipment they've ordered for me!

Yes, I've used the lightbulb and the dictionary, both of which have been enormously helpful. Great suggestion.

Also, as a forum newbie, I can't figure out how to respond to someone's post to me without doing a "quote." Can you help me?

Hope all is well with you.

Cathy

I am not trying to make you combative with your MD, just aware that you have options. Many people I suspect just bow to the doc, go to the DME where they are told, take what they are given, and some of them are probably truly happy with whatever they are given. Others are non compliant for various reasons, comfort, wrong titration studies, etc and could be much happier if they were proactive in their treatment and in a lot of cases had better equipment to aid in the process.

I truly believe that many docs are comfortable with the "order the equipment from the DME thing" and are not used to people who want some control, or do research.

Obviously you do want to take charge as you found this forum.

So, with that in mind. As you do your research, only you can decide what you really want from a machine. Some are very happy with straight CPAP, in fact some will tell you they do better with it than APAP. Some like high humidity, others like theirs unheated (and just use the humidifier without turning on the heat), some travel to high altitude places, some have high pressures and need exhale relief. So many options, and some are very personal.

If you can easily get APAP, it will be the most versitile. Is it necessary? Probably not, and how much hassle and $ it is worth is a very personal decision.

So have in mind what you want from the DME before you go, so you can see if you will be satisified with what they offer or want to walk. Or better yet make the decision and call ahead and ask for something different and gage the reaction.

Not all DMEs are bad. It is just easier to warn of the common issues with the bad things than tell of good experiences. Typical of life in general.

Is rental a scam? Depends on how you look at it. I understand the the insurance company doesn't want to spend money on people who quit treatment. However they don't seem to worry about the money they are spending on people who are required to get DME speciallized support who really are quite capable of hooking up a machine and dealing with it themselves. For example I could get my Respironics Auto for $689 online, but they choose to pay a DME over $1500 for it. I haven't been back to the DME once nor do I intend to go there. So they just wasted $800. That would cover one person who they purchased a machine for and who quit. But that is my own pet peeve.

On a rental issue, typically they are paying (on an 20% copay policy for example) $100 per month (I got to pay $20 or so too copay) for 3 months. This is $300 outlay with no return if you don't comply. Not counting the overpriced humidifier that is a straight purchase day one (can't remember but would venture a guess of $300) so the insurance is out $560 (and you are out $120) right off the bat for a setup that costs online $689.

But if you are only out (your cost only) $120 plus the other rental months ($20 times 7 more months or so) total out of you pocket is maybe $260. That is certainly better than buying cash with no insurance reimbursement for $689.

It becomes tricky when the insurance bills and collects these same amounts for a much cheaper machine a plus for example that you can buy with humidifier for $394 online. Now is the hassle worth it for you to save $134 and is that the machine you want?


In my opinion they would save money if they would reimburse for cash online purchases. My company won't even do that for repeat machhines (5 years new machine, experienced user). I don't want or need a DME looking over my shoulder and can't see why my Insurance would insist on paying for services I don't want or won' t use.

So there is no clear cut answer. It lies in your total out of pocket costs and the hassle in dealing with a DME, or in some cases the benefit in dealing with a DME if you need help or they let you try different masks etc.

Let us know how it goes and what you decide.

Always an interesting read what goes on at the DME.

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, humidifier, Titration, CPAP, DME, Altitude, auto, APAP, Travel

DenverCathy wrote:

Wulfman wrote:Hi Cathy,

Welcome to the forum!
I had also never participated in a forum till this one......looks like you're doing fine. I'd suggest (strongly) twisting their arms for the REMstar M Series Pro or the REMstar M Series Auto.

Den,

Thanks so much for the encouragement and support! I'm definitely going to make sure what REMstar equipment they've ordered for me!

Yes, I've used the lightbulb and the dictionary, both of which have been enormously helpful. Great suggestion.

Also, as a forum newbie, I can't figure out how to respond to someone's post to me without doing a "quote." Can you help me?

Hope all is well with you.

Cathy

Cathy,

Lots of people use the "quote" function to respond to posts.
One thing I DID notice with yours is that your ending part of the quotes is missing the left bracket [ and that's why it's not making a complete frame. I've corrected it on quoting your post so you can see what it would look like.

This is what the text looks like without the left bracket.
/quote]

You're doin' fine!

Den

Cathy,

There are also two "buttons" below and to the left of the last post. The left one is "New Topic" and the right one is "Post Reply". If you click the "Post Reply" it comes up with a blank frame to type in.

Best wishes,

Den

Cathy,

snoregirl wrote:I am not trying to make you combative with your MD, just aware that you have options.

You can still be "FIRM" without (hopefully) being combative. One thought that comes up frequently on the forum is that "the doctors work for YOU". You and your insurance carrier are paying them to do work for you......similar in many ways to a "contractor" or consultant type of situation.

Sometimes they need to be reminded of that relationship.

Den

I think I did it! Thanks for the education on posting replies.

Thanks also for all the positive input. Trust me, I'm not a combative person by nature and I don't take any of the advice/warnings I been given as anything other than positive support and a heads up for my interactions with md/DME/insurance co. So far, it's been a circular effort with no real good info from any of them -- so what's new, right? I'm depending on an answer from the md's tech tomorrow to my fax full of questions gathered from all of you kind souls. I'll be calling her if I don't hear back from her. Have requested copies of diagnostics study and titration study as well.

Again, everyone is so positive and helpful -- I haven't gotten a negative feel from any of you. I appreciate your encouragement to take responsibility for my health and medical treatment.

Best regards to all of you.

Cathy

Cathy you are doing great. Like was said, you do not have to be combative, but you need to be firm.

As for the quotes, there are two ways to do it:

1, if you want the name of the person who wrote what you want to quote, then press the quote button at the beginning of that post, top right hand side.

2. For a quote without the name, while in the posting screen, above the posting box there is a quote button click it the first time, type your post, then click on quote again to end the quote. If you did it right the second time you go click on it there will be an * by the word quote.