insurance won't pay for the sleep test

Road trip!--(or bus, train, plane)
If you are going to pay that much, have a nice vacation, too; and take it off your taxes as a medical trip.
Please check with an accountant first!

johnthomasmacdonald wrote:Insurance won't pay and the cost at this center is $6000 so i guess i'm back to trying to figure out how to treat this on my own. Last night using the same conditions that gave me an ahi of 4.5 gave an ahi of 13.5. I lived a decade in England, anyone that thinks US healthcare is superior to europe is in denial or has never lived there.

WHAT conditions?
WHAT settings?
WHAT are you trying to solve?

Judging by the reports of yours that Pugsy posted, that type of variation in numbers is NOT surprising if you're still using your APAP in a range of pressures.
Yet, with straight CPAP pressure of 11 cm., it was only 1.0. And, Pugsy said that 12 cm. looked even better.
Why not just leave it in CPAP mode and see what things look like?

And, considering how much stuff you're applying to keep your mouth shut, you might as well be using a full face mask.

I'm not sure what you're expecting from a sleep study. They're only a snapshot for one night, too.....and usually not a very good one. With a good, data-capable machine (and it doesn't HAVE to be an APAP), figuring out the best settings shouldn't be all that difficult.

Without software, trying to figure this out by looking at summary numbers in the LCD is futile.

For what it's worth, my split-night sleep study in 2005 would have cost about $1800.00 out-of-pocket, but after insurance "negotiation", it was a little under $1000.00.

From everything I've heard and read about the socialized healthcare, I'll take our NON-Obamacare.......ANY DAY!!!

Den

This is a website that can help you find the fair price for your location and give you tips on how to negotiate the price for your care:

http://healthcarebluebook.com/

According to the site, a sleep study for a patient with a Boston zip code of 02201 should cost $1158. I would print off the pricing agreement they provide and go negotiate.

Wulfman... wrote:Why not just leave it in CPAP mode and see what things look like?

Den, he did try another with straight cpap mode at 11cm 3 nights ago and it was just as ugly as apap mode. I didn't post that one. I thought for sure it would look like the decent cpap mode report that I posted but it was horrible looking. I haven't seen the last 2 nights though. One with AHI of less than 5 and in APAP mode.
Been seeing an awful lot of Periodic Breathing that may just be Sleep Wake Junk but I just can't tell. Some of it looks real suspicious of CSR.

So far..that 11 cm really good report...that one was the fluke.

I do agree about giving cpap mode a better trial though but I am thinking 13 cm or maybe 14 since EPR is being used.
Or maybe do a super tight range in APAP mode so we can still get the Flow limitations. Like maybe 13/14 or 14/15.

There was a woman a while back that had some similarly ugly looking reports and more centrals than I was comfortable with, lots of PB and lots of obstructives...all at lower pressures (11 and below range) obviously not getting the job done and we were scared to death to try more pressure with the centrals but finally did and at 15 cm....everything all cleared up and went away. Beautiful reports and feeling hugely better. We think that the centrals that we were seeing were really arousal centrals..sleep stage transition.
Once we got the obstructives taken care of....they likely were causing sleep stage disruptions..the centrals went away.
I don't know if that is what is happening here with John but obviously something is going on. I was hoping that he could get a real sleep study done. I am pretty sure some of the ugliness is SWJ...just don't know how much of it.

All I know to suggest is try to prevent the obstructives more effectively and cross our fingers that the centrals are related more to arousals than true CSR. To treat the obstructives more pressure is needed.

"WHAT conditions?
WHAT settings?
WHAT are you trying to solve?

Judging by the reports of yours that Pugsy posted, that type of variation in numbers is NOT surprising if you're still using your APAP in a range of pressures.
Yet, with straight CPAP pressure of 11 cm., it was only 1.0. And, Pugsy said that 12 cm. looked even better.
Why not just leave it in CPAP mode and see what things look like?

And, considering how much stuff you're applying to keep your mouth shut, you might as well be using a full face mask.

I'm not sure what you're expecting from a sleep study. They're only a snapshot for one night, too.....and usually not a very good one. With a good, data-capable machine (and it doesn't HAVE to be an APAP), figuring out the best settings shouldn't be all that difficult. "

the reason i stopped using cpap and tried apap again was that it stopped working - no clue why, as far i as know i'm doing everything exactly the same and yet i'm getting very wide variation -

as to full face masks - i've just ordered my Fifth - i can't even get my ahi below 20 with a full-face mask so far - I'm currently waiting on the respironics fitlife face XL from cpap.com that was backordered - i've been through Resmed Quattro FX, Mirage, Comfort gel, and the Paykel Forma - I've also tried the paykel omni 360 but so far the ONLY mask that has ever got me below 5 is the swift FX

as to the price - this is the cheapest i've found in New Jersey so far- the other offer was $7000. My insurance claims this is diagnostic and they have a limit ( which i wasn't aware of ) of $1000 of year diagnostic and i've spent that already on my first and only colonoscopy ( i'm such a wild and crazy guy wasting their money)

If anyone is within a days drive of NJ and they know of a sleep lab below $2000 - please give me their name

Wulfman: "
From everything I've heard and read about the socialized healthcare, I'll take our NON-Obamacare.......ANY DAY!!!

Den"

Heard from who? the US insurance industry lobby? Have you lived under both - I have - in ten years in Europe i never met a single american with experience with both systems who preferred the US system. Most americans don't even own a passport yet they think it is still 1946 and that everything in America is superior to the rest of the world - it isn't. The US spends DOUBLE per capita on health care than the next largest spender ( Switzerland) and leaves 50 million citizens ( "citizens" - what a joke) uninsured and another 100 million with lousy insurance ( i guess i'm in that category although i spend around $8000 a year for it ). We are below Europe in longevity and every measure of health with our "WE'RE NUMBER ONE" attitude. The last i looked the World Health Organization rated Health care in the USA at number 31 worldwide - tied with Cuba. But it's not a problem since as Mitt Romney said in the debate: " no one in the US dies from a lack of insurance, you can get treatment at the emergency room" - sure, right, that makes sense - don't bother with getting sleep apnea under control, wait until you have a stroke or a heart attack and then the ER has to try to give you CPR

Heard from who? the US insurance industry lobby? Have you lived under both - I have - in ten years in Europe i never met a single american with experience with both systems who preferred the US system. Most americans don't even own a passport yet they think it is still 1946 and that everything in America is superior to the rest of the world - it isn't. The US spends DOUBLE per capita on health care than the next largest spender ( Switzerland) and leaves 50 million citizens ( "citizens" - what a joke) uninsured and another 100 million with lousy insurance ( i guess i'm in that category although i spend around $8000 a year for it ). We are below Europe in longevity and every measure of health with our "WE'RE NUMBER ONE" attitude. The last i looked the World Health Organization rated Health care in the USA at number 31 worldwide - tied with Cuba. But it's not a problem since as Mitt Romney said in the debate: " no one in the US dies from a lack of insurance, you can get treatment at the emergency room" - sure, right, that makes sense - don't bother with getting sleep apnea under control, wait until you have a stroke or a heart attack and then the ER has to try to give you CPR[/quote]

Why don't you move back to Europe?

You can do a sleep study in your home using the WatchPAT 200. If you are ready to pay yourself then the total cost with interpretation would be below $300.

Check this:

http://www.1stlinemedical.com/

They prefer that you do it thru a physician (any). But you could do it without. You only need a physician to sign a NEED form.

"If you were to pay for this out-of-pocket, a fee of $195 would be incurred for the screening (yielding a result of negative or positive). If the screening were returned as negative, your responsibility would remain at $195. If the screening proves to be positive and the physician would like further detail on your condition, that would incur an additional $90 fee for the interpretation of the positive result."

Avi....he has already had a home study that he paid for himself. That's how come he ended up with cpap machine in the first place.

avi123 wrote:You can do a sleep study in your home

Espn : "Why don't you move back to Europe?"

I'm trying to - i only came back to the US to care for a sibling who has multiple sclerosis, lymphedema, one leg and although she worked as a social worker in child abuse for 40 years before retiring and was told by the hospital here that she has the best insurance they've ever seen, medicare and insurance do very little to help with keeping her out of the hospital - they treat her when she gets very ill but they do little to keep her out of the hospital since the system is about money not keeping people healthy-

but it is the typical american attitude - if you don't scream "we're number one, we're number one about everything - then you should move out " - it's a sign of insecurity not confidence

Well, I have friends who live in Canada. And, I've observed some of the trials and tribulations of forum members who have posted from Great Britain, Australia and other European countries who have tried to deal with the healthcare in their countries. I've also read many (horror) stories from those places in the last few years as our politicians were trying to pass "Obamacare".
One thing I've noticed in the area of Sleep Apnea treatment is that there are lots of people on both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific who order their machines from sellers in the U S.

I've never claimed that the healthcare system in the U S A was "perfect". We DO have many problems with it (mostly on the cost end)......which have been caused by the politicians, lawyers and a few "bad" doctors and hospitals (which has caused the liability/malpractice insurance rates for the others to go through the roof). We're also paying for the healthcare for many illegal immigrants and people who don't have insurance or don't/can't pay for their own treatments. But, if ours wasn't so good, why would so many people from Canada and other countries be coming HERE to get treatment?

Healthcare isn't "free" in any country. And, it's going to get more expensive and more difficult to get treated here in this country if "Obamacare" is allowed to stand.

Den
.

Wulfman... wrote:Well, I have friends who live in Canada. And, I've observed some of the trials and tribulations of forum members who have posted from Great Britain, Australia and other European countries who have tried to deal with the healthcare in their countries. I've also read many (horror) stories from those places in the last few years as our politicians were trying to pass "Obamacare".
One thing I've noticed in the area of Sleep Apnea treatment is that there are lots of people on both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific who order their machines from sellers in the U S.

But, if ours wasn't so good, why would so many people from Canada and other countries be coming HERE to get treatment?

Healthcare isn't "free" in any country. And, it's going to get more expensive and more difficult to get treated here in this country if "Obamacare" is allowed to stand.

.

Yes people bitch and those that are rich will buy their services where ever they can get them. But we don't have 20,000 to 45,000 people annually dying due to lack of medical care, our infant mortality rate is not comparable to a third world country and no one goes bankrupt when they get cancer and our average life span is longer. True the "me first, me first" are usually pissed off when the have to get in line, especially when someone with a heart attack gets seen first, but most Canadians get more then adequate medical care.

Oh and we see commercials all the time for Florida hospitals "Have vacation and get your tummy tucked this winter!" and if you have good extra insurance from work then you can totally do that. My brother in law got his weight loss surgery in the USA paid for by my sister's Armed forces insurance.

On second thought...

...while debating WHO 2000 would certainly offer some spirited discussion, I think I'll get ready for a very exciting weekend of gridiron (or is it on the gridiron?).

The Sleep Center at my local hospital charged my insurance around $2000 for my sleep test in March 2011.

In what universe should a sleep test cost $6000???!!!!

Mine was $6,000

Seattle - connected to a hospital.

I have to admit though that it went really well, was comfortable, and the tech was great. She really got me off to a great start by picking the perfect mask for me on the first try. I slept really well that night.