Resmed Price Increase

rested gal, That was so funny! But then it is so sad. Thank you for all you do. You are a real hero.

This always floors me. My doctor is the one I talk to for therapy. How many of you sit and heart to hearts with your pharmacist about your meds.
You talk to your doctor.

You notice they said nothing in their response about how to report a bad DME to Resmed or switching DMEs.

How about suggesting to Resmed that they shut out certain DMEs like Apria for bad service and even worse billing practices. I had a heck of time trying to reconcile my FSA account last year.

jnk wrote:I would ask that you please put patients first, not insurance-based DMEs.

You should be talking to your congressperson(s) about that, as it is a general structural issue which is built into the US healthcare insurance/delivery system.

billbolton wrote:

jnk wrote:I would ask that you please put patients first, not insurance-based DMEs.

You should be talking to your congressperson(s) about that, as it is a general structural issue which is built into the US healthcare insurance/delivery system.

You profoundly misunderstand my words, Bill. Congress did not cause ResMed to forbid Internet sellers from selling at the price the seller sees fit. It is that action, ResMed's action, that I take issue with, since it takes away the choice of the patient to simply buy the machine without paying money for services most patient's never receive.

I am not defending US healthcare, Bill. But I am attacking ResMed's pricing policies, which punish the patient in order to line the pockets of the ones ResMed has chosen to align itself with. ResMed has put its biggest-paying U.S. customer (insurance-based DMEs) ahead of the patients (people like me who want to buy the machine for whatever an Internet seller would sell it for), in that it has forced Internet sellers to raise prices in order to appease ResMed's primary customer in the US, the insurance-based DMEs.

This has nothing to do with congress, other than the fact that maybe congress will eventually stop companies from doing what ResMed is doing, making business decisions that hurt patients.

Does that clarify my position?

If things keep going the way they are going, I expect you will see all health care prices in the US rise 30 to 40 percent next week, with this same kind of pricing, wherever they can get a way with it.

Lets hope they stop this blatantly unconstitutional health care bill!

Thank you for allowing me to pretend that you listen to me. If prices don't come down online, I will know you don't care about me or my fellow patients. Until such time as you change your policies that I disagree with, the only tool I have is my wallet and my word of mouth, which I will use appropriately, until such time as you start putting patients first.

jeff[/quote]


You're right, Jeff. Today I voted with my feet and my wallet. I ordered a Respironics PR System One REMstar AUTO APAP with heated humidifier for $654 (no tax or shipping). It seems pretty comparable to the ResMed S9 autoset, and is now about $400 cheaper.

I have a feeling many will be making that decision, jonboy.

timbalionguy wrote:If things keep going the way they are going, I expect you will see all health care prices in the US rise 30 to 40 percent next week, with this same kind of pricing, wherever they can get a way with it.

Lets hope they stop this blatantly unconstitutional health care bill!

You would think Republicans would want SIngle Payer so that businesses would be on the same competitive footing as their international competition.

jnk wrote:You profoundly misunderstand my words, Bill

Ditto.

jnk wrote:Does that clarify my position?

Not in the slighest. You seem to be extremely confused about how the US healthcare delivery system operates, and the very high degree of influence the major payers (the private insurers) have.

billbolton wrote:

jnk wrote:You profoundly misunderstand my words, Bill

Ditto.

jnk wrote:Does that clarify my position?

Not in the slighest. You seem to be extremely confused about how the US healthcare delivery system operates, and the very high degree of influence the major payers (the private insurers) have.

I am sorry you still claim not to understand. My position is very simple, so I will restate it: When a company raises prices for users, it is not doing so out of a desire to help the users, no matter what laughable claims that company may make to the contrary, just to humor its biggest customer.

I am glad that at least we both agree that ResMed's corporate policy of dictating Internet prices is a matter of ResMed's choosing to bow to the pressure of one customer ("private insurers") to the detriment of its other customers, those who would like to buy over the Internet at a fair price.

Surely even you can see how ridiculous ResMed's claim is that my paying more when I buy over the Internet is a way for ResMed to support good medical care. What a joke! If they allow sales over the Internet at all, their own actions prove they don't believe their own argument on that. It is a matter of dollars and nonsense when ResMed claims that what it is doing is not for financial reasons but is for altruistic reasons of making sure users get medical support. Please!

You, and ResMed, seem to be extremely confused about the fact that insurance-based DMEs in the US have failed to do anything near what ResMed claims to think they do. We in the US on this board understand that, and that is why we are so insulted by ResMed's patronizing claim that our paying more when we buy over the Internet is somehow for our own good.

Please respond to this message so I can keep making my arguments over and over again. Maybe someone else is having a hard time understanding me, too, and frankly, I really enjoy hearing the sound of my own voice in this thread.

jeff

jonboy wrote:Thank you for allowing me to pretend that you listen to me. If prices don't come down online, I will know you don't care about me or my fellow patients. Until such time as you change your policies that I disagree with, the only tool I have is my wallet and my word of mouth, which I will use appropriately, until such time as you start putting patients first.

jeff

You're right, Jeff. Today I voted with my feet and my wallet. I ordered a Respironics PR System One REMstar AUTO APAP with heated humidifier for $654 (no tax or shipping). It seems pretty comparable to the ResMed S9 autoset, and is now about $400 cheaper.[/quote]
===============
Good move, now did you mail a copy of your order to Resmed? Just emailing won't do much because whoever reads it will just delete it and laugh.
But, a postal mail of a copy of your order with a letter telling them you went with the competition because of their pricing policy, sent to the sales manager -- might get some attention.

100 letters like that would do much more

Arizona-Willie wrote:Good move, now did you mail a copy of your order to Resmed? Just emailing won't do much because whoever reads it will just delete it and laugh.
But, a postal mail of a copy of your order with a letter telling them you went with the competition because of their pricing policy, sent to the sales manager -- might get some attention.

100 letters like that would do much more

Great suggestion! They will just see us as a PITA, but we have to make the point somehow!

I think we also need a consistent slogan, such as "BOYCOTT RESMED", so that the message is clear and remembered through repitition.

I expect to get a Respironics Bipap Auto SV soon through my DME. I will let ResMed know that, even though my insurance is paying, I insisted on a Respironics and will avoid their machines because of their internet policy.

As Rooster pointed out in another thread, ResMed is in the processof hiring an "enforcer" to monitor compliancve with it's internet pricing restrictions (see below.)

I am also going to comb through their SEC filings when I get a chance to try to better understand their sales volumes by distribution channel. It may help to know more about their sales to more effectively "argue" with their sales and marketing people.

There ios also an anti-trustr suit underway taht appears to be related to this issue,. as far as we can tell. Additional publicity around that suit may be a useful tool in getting ResMeds attention, depending on how that suit develops. It would be nice to rope them in to some of teh backlash against the insurance companies over their tactics (rate increases, recission, etc.)



http://www.resmed.com/us/careers/job-se ... nc=careers

Sales Operations Manager and Internet Compliance

Job ID: 2010-2811

Responsibilities:

* Works closely with theDirector of Sales Operation to implement and execute on internet policies and procedures.
* Direct and lead the internet compliance and enforcement team to ensure that ResMed Internet Policies are being followed by our ResMed internet dealers.
* Works with third party vendors such as NetEnforcers to monitor and enforce internet compliance.
* Develop metrics and analysis around internet enforcement to provide to Sr. Management.
* Assess resources and skills required in order to meet internet compliance and audit objectives.

Both my wife and I use CPAP machines. Both of us needed new machines. I bought the S9 to try out and liked it and then went back to order another one for my wife, pricing had gone up on that day! So we bought the PR one. To be honest, both machines are pretty much the same. There is one advantage on the PR one side though, after one month of usage I had a tear on the slim line tube that comes with the S9. Have you people seen how thin the tube wall is on this tube? It's barely thicker than a plastic bag.

Resmed just increased prices for us as providers, too.

jonboy wrote:Thank you for allowing me to pretend that you listen to me. If prices don't come down online, I will know you don't care about me or my fellow patients. Until such time as you change your policies that I disagree with, the only tool I have is my wallet and my word of mouth, which I will use appropriately, until such time as you start putting patients first.

jeff

You're right, Jeff. Today I voted with my feet and my wallet. I ordered a Respironics PR System One REMstar AUTO APAP with heated humidifier for $654 (no tax or shipping). It seems pretty comparable to the ResMed S9 autoset, and is now about $400 cheaper.[/quote]

This is exactly what I did too!