Look at these price increases!

neversleeps · Post by **neversleeps** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:07 am

john5757 wrote:did anyone sees what the price increase will be? I received this today from a online retailer

Mirage Activa - mask $96 $145 (51% increase)
Mirage Swift - mask $120 $159 ( 33% increase)

S8 Escape - CPAP $425 $625 (47% increase)
AutoSet Vantage auto CPAP $625 $825 (32% increase)
VPAP III - BiPAP $1335 $2995 (124% increase)

3i Heated Humidifier $185 $260 (41% increase)
2i Heated Humidifier $185 $260 (41% increase)

Notice the price increase on the BiPap.
I am waiting for all of this to hit the fan.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:22 am

john5757 wrote:Notice the price increase on the BiPap.

From $1335 to $2995.

A 124% price increase is ridiculous. Who is going to buy Resmed anymore?

Dale92 · Post by **Dale92** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:57 am

It's sad to see!

Those prices look like the ones my DME charges my insurance company. I only use the Swift as an alternate mask (one of my favorites purchased 7 months ago) but at those prices I will not be buying any ResMed products. If others follow suit and raise prices I will only be able to get a mask when my insurance allows it. Sad

Dale

beneyw · Post by **beneyw** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:57 am

The people who are diagnosed with sleep apnea every day who do not know about this site will buy at whatever prices they are given ...I found this site AFTER I paid an outlandish price for my machine because I was naive and uninformed and I made the mistake to trust the DME who had one interest...$$$.

Remember, we all began with the same level of ignorance.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:27 am

Although we are the end-users, we are not the customer. We have no control over customer prices, not even the price of health insurance. It's a 'take or leave it' deal. Who should we boycott, the health insurance company, the government?

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:40 am

beneyw wrote:The people who are diagnosed with sleep apnea every day who do not know about this site will buy at whatever prices they are given ...I found this site AFTER I paid an outlandish price for my machine because I was naive and uninformed and I made the mistake to trust the DME who had one interest...$$$.

Remember, we all began with the same level of ignorance.

That's what they're counting on.....and the fact that the insurance companies (and Medicare) will PAY....and PAY.....and PAY!

From the time I went into my GP/PCP and he told me that I may have sleep apnea, till the time the sleep doctor wrote out my prescription (about 3 months) I read everything I could find on the Internet about OSA and researched prices and sources of equipment. When I went into the sleep study, I already knew I wanted to be tested with a full face mask. By the time I got ready to buy, I had narrowed it down to CPAP.COM for the source and either Respironics or ResMed for the machines. My sleep doctor (for whatever reason) wrote "w/C-Flex" on my prescription......so then I concentrated on the REMstar machines. With Becky's help at CPAP.COM, she steered me to the REMstar Pro 2 machine (it was fairly new and had the same data recording as the Auto).

We need to get potential OSA patients more knowledgeable and more empowered in dealing with every step of the process on the path to therapy.

Den

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:50 am

Has the other leading competitor responded to any of this? What does Respironics have to say about this? Has anyone asked them?

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:58 am

Rastaman wrote:Has the other leading competitor responded to any of this? What does Respironics have to say about this? Has anyone asked them?

I wouldn't if I were you.....
I'm sure they know! Big question is: What are they going to DO?
In my opinion, if ONE company does what ResMed is doing, it becomes "Price fixing".
If the rest of the companies follow suit, it becomes collusion and/or a conspiracy.

Den

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:11 pm

Wulfman wrote:If the rest of the companies follow suit, it becomes collusion and/or a conspiracy.

Maybe not, Wulfman. The major airlines operated this way for years, until competition caught up with them, then they all went bankrupt. Most have now gone bankrupt multiple times. This sort of tactic is not exactly a sound business maneuver. It amazes me that the airlines still operate this way, with the same results, year after year. And they wonder why Southwest, Jet Blue, et. al., are cleaning their clocks. Oh well . . .

If ResMed was planning this behind closed doors with their competitors, then it might be illegal, but so long as each company independently comes to whatever decisions they do, then it is not illegal. All we know so far is that ResMed has stated their intentions. What their competitors do with that information remains to be seen. Either way though, ResMed is making a bad business decision.

Regards,
Bill

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:21 pm

Bill,

But, were the airlines setting the (minimum) seating prices with the ticket counters, travel agents and the online sellers (like Priceline.com)???

I don't think so......

Den

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:32 pm

Wulfman wrote:But, were the airlines setting the (minimum) seating prices with the ticket counters, travel agents and the online sellers (like Priceline.com)???

Absolutely they did! Americans Airlines owned the Sabre network, thereby effectively forcing pricing for everybody. At one point they attempted to bully Southwest by charging a large amount for travel agent's fees. Problem with the strategy was that Southwest told 'em to take a hike. Southwest decided they could get by without travel agents. Instead, Southwest looked long-term, decided travelers had other booking options available, and made their business plans accordingly. Clearly Southwest got a long-term advantage, although they probably lost a little in the short-term.

Regards,
Bill

MaskedMechanic · Post by **MaskedMechanic** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:48 pm

Don't we need more on the source of this thread. John 5757, where are you? Seems legit but without a source or follow up information, who can say?

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:49 pm

Well, their "bullying" didn't work then, did it?

I'm wondering if the online sellers could start a class action suit against ResMed or just tell THEM to go take a hike.....
BUT, like I said in a previous post, it won't HURT the online sellers by increasing their SELLING prices.....they'll just be selling fewer ResMed products because WE (the potential buyers) will switch to other brands. Any of us who have purchased online will probably not go back to buying from a local DME.

In my case, I"ve never spent a dime at my locals.....that's why I went online to begin with.

Den

neversleeps · Post by **neversleeps** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 1:54 pm

MaskedMechanic wrote:Don't we need more on the source of this thread. John 5757, where are you? Seems legit but without a source or follow up information, who can say?

MM-I just sent john5757 a PM in case he has his notification of reply turned off on that other thread.

MM-you raise an interesting point with the questions you asked.

MaskedMechanic wrote:john5757,

Great (dreadful?) information. Can you ask your internet source:

When is this going into effect?

Will he do what Resmed wants?

What will Resmed do if he doesn't play Resmed's game?

Are you saying the online suppliers have a choice as to whether or not they will do what Resmed wants? It never occurred to me they could refuse. Don't they HAVE TO play Resmed's game?

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:15 pm

I think ResMed has made two mistakes with this move:

1) Using compliance as an excuse, and they have no data that compares the compliance of the internet DME users vs. the bricks-and-mortar DME users.

2) I don't think they knew Teleflex was getting ready to jump into their market with an innovative product line. Teleflex also knows how to mass-produce complex medical products.

Look at these price increases!

Look at these price increases!

Re: Look at these price increases!

ranting against the system....

Humidifier

Additional Comments: ResScan and SleepyHead software