DME/insurance or buy online? Same price, what do I do?

Going back a ways:

Medicare dictates that you rent-to-buy. 13 payments spread over a year, and you will pay on a monthly basis and they have to collect regular compliance data. This is easier than it used to be. With the new wifi-enabled machines the data goes to the DME automatically via wifi. The bottom line is $1597 including one mask, a Climateline hose and a pair of filters. Now, my insurance pays 80% so it isn't a big deal, but still with the increase due to rental my cost more than doubles.

Medicare also dictates that the DME is responsible for maintaining the machine for 5 years, and doing all the infernal medical justification and compliance paperwork Medicare and your supplemental insurer require. So Medicare is getting its money's worth, in a way. Imagine how much money Medicare could save by NOT requiring all that paperwork. OTOH, much easier to scam Medicare (like the Medicare knee brace scam a few years go) if they don't require all the documentation and compliance data. So every time you pump your fist in the air saying that yes, the federal government should sniff out fraud in Medicare, the costs go UP--to save federal dollars.