CPAP supplies online

Anyone have experience ordering supplies online? I am new and received an offer to order online at no cost to me. Sounds too good to be true.

PETH wrote:Anyone have experience ordering supplies online? I am new and received an offer to order online at no cost to me. Sounds too good to be true.

Unless you can tell us more, I would say don't do it.

No problem ordering online from a reputable vendor, like cpap.com.


But... No cost to you....

You know the old saying.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I faintly remember seeing such an ad. My recollection is they would bill a person's insurance or Medicare -- the person would receive their supplies by mail at no cost to them. I didn't really look at it very well, so I'm no authority on it. I pick up my supplies at my DMEs each month -- have a little chat -- see if anything new is coming out etc. Helps to stay in touch.

Thank you all for your response. My thoughts exactly. If it is too good to be true it probably isnt. I will be filling in my profile and checking back more regularly. I told the Sleep Clinic to day about this website and they should be telling their patients about you. Thanks again.

I ordered from Americarecpap.com and it worked great for me. I got the machine at no cost (Resmed S9) but did have to pay $325 for the parts but that include 12 nasal cushions, 2 headgears, 2 chin straps, 2 climate line hoses, 2 humidifiers, and 2 chin straps. It was a lot cheeper than who my insurance wanted to go through.

There are some online companies that are certified by Medicare so they can bill Medicare and possibly your Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance and/or private insurers for you. They may provide everything to you by drop shipment and they don't charge you the shipping costs.

Some of these are legitimate, and probably not much different than dealing with a lousy brick and mortar DME who doesn't give much support anyway. The costs are the same, because it's going to be whatever your insurer pays (usually Medicare). It may NOT be free to you if you have an insurer that does not contract with the company.

The downside I see is that they are acting like an online supplier (who typically charges much LESS than the Medicare allowable), but charging as much as a brick and mortar DME. The reason brick and mortar DME's are supposed to get more than online suppliers is the service they supposedly provide (many don't do a very good job!). So you are essentially paying for service (directly or indirectly) that you may or may not recieve from this online company whereas an online supplier that doesn't bill insurance doesn't hold itself out to be more than a supplier (though many DO offer great service, because that's how they get and keep customers).

I've poked around on some of these Medicare Certified online DME provider's sites, and the other thing I've noted is that they have a very limited inventory. You may want an S9, they may not carry it, and may be unwilling to order it for you. The mask inventories seem similarly limited. But you never have to leave home, and they will probably sign you up for automatic supplies on your insurer's schedule. If you don't have to pay co-pays (they may even waive the 20%) then it feels like it's free (you paid for it long and hard with your years of work and contributions to Medicare, though).

It may be a convenient and and good for you company, you never know.

For the actual hardware (original unit, humidifier, masks etc), I would tend to want to go the brick and mortar DME route... that way, if I encounter any problems, I can go and see the DME for real time solutions. In regards to trying out new masks, it may mean that you have to call around to see if a particular DME has what you want but, on the flip side, going this route would also elimiate the need to purchase return insurance.

For replacement parts/accessories, I see nothing wrong with going the online route... mind you, seeing as I'm a Canadian Hoser, I also compare the shipping costs when ordering online from US based online DME's (who will actually ship to Canada)... i.e. cpapXchange charges according to FedEx rates; 1800cpap dot com wants USD 25$ to ship orders under USD 190$ to Canada and USD 40$ for orders over 190$ while;our good friends here at cpap dot com appear to charge a flat rate of USD 17$ (or at least that's the amount that they wanted when I did a test shopping cart test of amounts over and below 1800cpap's pricing guide).

Bottom line... do your homework... different companies have different terms and conditions.

WestCoastGirl: Many Canadians have product shipped to a US address. Being as about 75% of us live within 100 miles of the US border a quick trip to the US can save a bundle of$$$. Some enterprising Americans have set up businesses that specialize in receiving parcels for Canadians. I am sure there will be one in Blaine. Bob

The "no cost to you" probably refers to medicare patients or others who have insurance that covers c pap supplies; I am a medicare patient - and medicare does cover supplies, but I need a supplier who is good at letting me know when I can order new supplies (medicare has a schedule) and who will keep me informed and deliver in a timely manner.

Jimmyd wrote:I ordered from Americarecpap.com and it worked great for me.

This is who I use and they have never failed to deliver my supplies every 90 days and there has never been a cost to me. Works great, IMHO. Also, being full time RVers, they will call to see where they need to ship to when supplies are due. Great service.