CPAP phone call

I received a call from some company telling me it was time to get new supplies. Since I am very new to this (only 1 month) I am wondering if it is legit. I thought my doctor would order new supplies when needed. Phone number was (877) 309-6363. Should I just ignore this?

Google says the phone number is from "MedExpress" or "Medical Services of America." Is this your DME?
A lot of complaints online about them, and I see them referred to as telemarketers. If it's not your DME, I'd ignore it.

Thank you.

My (former) DME outsourced to professional harassers, it might be the company you mention. The call every so often "needing to talk to me about my medical treatment". I ignore them. At least they stopped leaving messages so I didn't have to go into voice mail each time to delete.

The key issue is who your insurance will pay for supplies. In my case it's my original DME - not a great outfit - but they are in network and I get 100% reimbursed. So they'll "do"...

beachlover wrote:I received a call from some company telling me it was time to get new supplies. Since I am very new to this (only 1 month) I am wondering if it is legit. I thought my doctor would order new supplies when needed. Phone number was (877) 309-6363. Should I just ignore this?

I'd be very surprised if your doctor does anything at all, they certainly don't take the time to order supplies for you, that's what the DME (used car salesmen of the cpap world) do.

Actually, they should be letting you order supplies when you need them, not trying to get you to order things when you don't need them.. it is a good idea to have backup supplies, but you certainly don't need to reorder whenever it's time to replace according to the schedule of when insurance/medicare will pay for replacements.

I did order supplies once using that automated system. It asked me if I wanted to reorder supplies. I said yes. It said "OK, thank you" and hung up. HEY! What supplies did I just order?! Where to I pick them up or are they being mailed (my DME is local) and if so to where?! I never had supplies mailed, I'd just pick them up at the DME. What the heck. So I called the DME and they said all replaceable components were being sent by mail; hose, filters, mask, head gear, seal, ... Um, I just wanted a new seal is all. I thought I was going to make some choices. Nope. My co-pay was more than the pay-it-myself seal here. So this time I ordered here at CPAP.COM. That was nice. I will NEVER answer a "talk about your treatment" (no, you want to talk about nothing and just ship and bill me for everything).

beachlover wrote:I received a call from some company telling me it was time to get new supplies. Since I am very new to this (only 1 month) I am wondering if it is legit. I thought my doctor would order new supplies when needed. Phone number was (877) 309-6363. Should I just ignore this?

Do Not give your credit card number to any DME, Especially one that calls you .

Where is the down side of taking as many spares as your insurance will pay for as early as you can? Doesn't that protect you against loss, damage or other needs at no cost?

My insurance pays 100% after i meet my high deductible - paid for by my company. So I'm lucky

Apparently, HIPAA means nothing to these clowns . . .

englandsf wrote:Where is the down side of taking as many spares as your insurance will pay for as early as you can?

Potential rate increases mainly. The more insurance companies pay out..the greater their argument for increasing rates.

At the individual level or systematically, Pugsy?

If they already expect and budget to pay - for example - for a new set of pillows every month and I can make them last 2-3 times that, then I get spares for free that I can use on an ongoing basis. Likewise humidifier tanks, headgear and filters. Yes?

The odd thing is that my insurer (BCBS of TX) tells me that the frequency of coverage is in an agreement with my DME, who does share it and allow me to max my uptake ('cos that's how they make money!-) It's very "aggressive" and reflects what my doctor put in prescription specifying what needed replacing when.

One of the few things the sleep doc and DME seem to have co-ordinated well. They were no help as i went through the mask hell that seems to defeat so many of our peers.

englandsf wrote:At the individual level or systematically, Pugsy?

Depends on the policy but increasing premiums individually because of claims is something that is really frowned upon.
In general past claims history rate increases are across the board for everyone who has that particular insurance plan.
So if you use your insurance a lot....and your co worker who hasn't had a claim in 5 years will likely get the same rate increase that you would get because you used your insurance a lot. He would have you to thank for his rate increase.

englandsf wrote:If they already expect and budget to pay

Insurance companies don't budget like that...that would be too much common sense. They typically base rate changes on past claims.

DMEs all would rather promote very frequent replacement instead of being tied to whatever the insurance company allows.
Believe me...if you went in there every week and wanted to buy a new complete mask...they would happily supply it to you but they would expect you to pay for it. DMEs don't have limited replacement schedules on their own...they come up with a general policy that mimics most insurance (often Medicare) because most people don't want to pay out of pocket for anything.
They could sell you a different mask or replacement part every day if you would be willing to pay for it and not have them bill your insurance company. It's all about the profit.

You alone maximizing your replacements because you can....probably isn't going to affect your insurance rates but if everyone else who has the same plan as you have did the same thing...rest assured everyone's rates would go up but hell...they likely would have gone up anyway. It's the way life is now with this insurance and high medical care costs. Not using insurance sure won't mean there won't be any increases.

Personally...I don't blame you for wanting to stock pile stuff. You or your employer pays a lot for your insurance and you feel you are entitled to use it. I don't blame you one bit. I actually feel the same way myself. I sure as heck paid the rate increases that I got in the past when I never used the insurance.

But for me there comes a point when I just don't want to bother with the stock piling. I can only have room enough for x amount of supplies. I don't like to toss a nasal pillow that has been used for only 2 weeks just because I have a new one I can use. It just seems wasteful to me and I don't like to waste anything. I grew up too poor and needing to watch my pennies to ever change from my general mindset. So just because I can get 2 new nasal pillows a month (and I have a copay which wouldn't break the bank) doesn't mean that I do it.... I choose to not keep stock piling once I have a few spares on hand.
I have used the same P10 nasal pillow since mid Jan....8 months...I could have used insurance and have 16 now.
What am I going to do with 16?.... Oh wait...I can go sell them on EBay. and that's where a lot of the extras end up.

I'm on a high deductible plan presently and so if the DME, to greedily suit themselves, orders me everything, I have to pay for everything out of pocket. The only benefit I get is the "negotiated rate" but in this case that price is MORE than what our gracious hosts here charge for the same part. This is why I will never ever order from my (former) DME again.