Forget my apnea....Now I'm losing sleep over insurance scam

Chagrined · Post by **Chagrined** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:21 pm

I've been using my CPAP for about 2 years now and love the fact that my wife (and me as a result) can sleep all night long! I started a new business and changed by insurance coverage to a high deductible HSA to save on premium. My machine was provided by Praxair through the insurer. Since I have this huge deductible I called Praxair and asked them to give me a buyout price on my machine. They said that it was $1400! I questioned the amount and they said that since I changed insurers the payments "start over" at zero against the cost of the machine! In 2 years me and the insuracne company have paid over $2000 for a machine that I find at cpap.com for $400. What's wrong with this picture!!!!

I'm ready to blast Praxair in the morning for robbing my and the insurer blind. Has this happened to anyone else or am I the only one stupid enough never to check out the price of a machine on the market vs. from a service?

biggziff · Post by **biggziff** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:49 pm

This kind of thing disgusts me....really makes me physically sick. We pay out the you know what for insurance and people are doing everything in their power to steal from us, the insurers and anyone else they can. Why doesn't the government look at this for what it is? Theft..period...

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:18 pm

I know there isn't any government regulation on on any type of Durable Medical Equipment.

I have the same problem with my powerchair purchase. A chair can actually cost 9000.00 but the price is upped to 20,000.00

Go figure.

Jere · Post by **Jere** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:31 pm

Buy the machine on CPAP.com for $400 and don't give the DME the satisfaction of any more of your money.

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:20 pm

Great advice Jere

sleepyinsunnyvale · Post by **sleepyinsunnyvale** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:25 pm

That's exactly what I just did!!

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:26 pm

Chagrined,

This is why the HSAs are a great thing. Instead of paying $2000 or $1400 you can now pay $400 and the savings is your's to keep in your health savings account.

Sev, $20,000 for a power chair??? Do they think they are selling you a Cadillac? I bet at $9000 the company that makes them is making a very large profit. I could buy a Segway for half that much...wonder if you can get a Segway with a chair???

Segway...

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:36 pm

dsm, The Segway is a Yuppie Toy and not for a person with balance and standing problems. They do not come with a seat.

The best chair I have test ridden, comes from Australia, the Innovation Frontier X5.

I test rode this chair at my old home and it litterally walked over the deepest pothole in my street with no jarring of my spine or neck.

The one I tested topped out at a little over $15,000.00

Now the big monster is the Omega Trac which will top out at $37,000.00 with all bells and whistles as well as a buddy seat on the back. Yes you read right a buddy seat. if you have an AB with you they can ride with you.

You can even buy a winch to move small trees or to pull yourself out of a drift or a small flooded stream.

Kemosabe · Post by **Kemosabe** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:38 pm

You can even buy a wench to move small trees or to pull yourself out of a drift or a small flooded stream.

If I got a wench, my wife would kill me.

Chagrined · Post by **Chagrined** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:14 am

I'm going to try and negotiate with them today to see if they will "give" me the machine I currently have without any additional charge. If they jerk me around any more I will just buy one online and have them take this one back.

I feel so stupid. I don't buy anything without comparing prices, but when it comes to medical stuff I think we just forget that it is a commodity as well. I'm going to do some legal checking to see what recourse there might be. If I come up with anything I'll post it here.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:32 pm

Severeena wrote:dsm, The Segway is a Yuppie Toy and not for a person with balance and standing problems. They do not come with a seat.

The Segway people do make a power chair called the IBOT. My nephew tried to get one, but he said that so far, no insurance company has paid for one. I think he said they were in the $25,000 range. He has since gotten a standard power chair and an assistance dog....

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:23 pm

The iBot is a real nice set up. According to the insurance companies, those that would like to move standing up don't need to. It is a luxary item. Just like going out at night with no way of lighting a powerchair. Lights are an out of pocket expense.

I can go on and on about powerchairs and how insurance companies jerk us around.

I know this is off topic, but we that have sleep apnea have a lot of gripes and complaints.

Mask

Mask

Mask

Mask

Forget my apnea....Now I'm losing sleep over insurance scam

Forget my apnea....Now I'm losing sleep over insurance scam

Buy CPAP outright