Suggestions for dealing with Kaiser and Apria?

n5xmt wrote:

xyz wrote:> Called the doc at the sleep center, he said he has no control

Make an appointment with the doctor. Difficult problems usually cannot be solved over the phone. Tell him/her in person what you have learned. Come prepared with exactly what you want. Have the exact manufacturer's _model number_ of the machine and any other equipment. Insist that the doctor write the model number on the prescription. And that he add "do not substitute". Get a copy of the prescription for you to take home.

If he won't do it, doesn't Kaiser have a Patient Advocate that you can complain to?

The Doc, when I was in his office Monday, also told me he couldn't specify any machine...
they do have patient advocates...
I'm thinking at this point it would be easier to spend the 500 bucks at cpap.com to buy the machine I want... on that note, will a prescription with a single pressure be able to buy the auto machine, or would it also have to specify auto?

I figured sooner or later you'd come to that conclusion.
NO.....you can buy an APAP/Auto from CPAP.COM on a CPAP prescription.

Den

cool... it's not worth the headaches when no one on the Dr side wants to cooperate...
besides, for a cpap auto, 500 bills isn't half bad

Well I guess I should have posted it yesterday when I first read the thread -

Save the headache and time of playing phone tag that doesn't get anywhere, and buy online. Sometimes it reaches the point where the frustration isn't worth the extra cost.

I know I made that decision when I dumped my local DM. Even though I would have liked to help support the local economy. I was making calls each month to try to straighten out the bills and the billing center wasn't local.

If you get the model that matches your current machine, you can save on getting a humidifier and use the apria issued humidifier.

[quote="jules"]Well I guess I should have posted it yesterday when I first read the thread -

Save the headache and time of playing phone tag that doesn't get anywhere, and buy online. Sometimes it reaches the point where the frustration isn't worth the extra cost.

I know I made that decision when I dumped my local DM. Even though I would have liked to help support the local economy. I was making calls each month to try to straighten out the bills and the billing center wasn't local.

If you get the model that matches your current machine, you can save on getting a humidifier and use the apria issued humidifier.

you need to call kaiser dme back to check if they have that particular unit listed in their formulary, which they should. Then ask Kaiser DME to get you an auth for that particular machine.

I don't have this particular insurance but my DME would not provide me with what I wanted and their sleep doc is not even in same state and would NOT write a script for what I wanted. I went to my own doc and asked him to write me a script for exactly what I wanted. He did it with no hesitation. I did not go back to that same DME though. I fired them and took old machine back. I went to the DME connected with my local hospital and got exactly what I wanted. Is there some way your own doc can write a script for you and bypass their sleep doc?

FWIW, I don't have Kaiser insurance, but do use Apria. Having my Doctor write out the exact machine I wanted was the key. I then stated in the fax that if they could not provide this exact machine, to not proceed and let me know. Two days later I had my machine.