At what point do I get Big Brother off my back?

chunkyfrog wrote:Once "compliance" is satisfied, the next step is not to ease back, but to keep pushing the envelope.
Any sleep without the hose is worse for your health than the same time with it.
Helping your body heal should always be your prime motivation.
Learn what you can and do whatever you need to do towards that end. We'd like you to stick around.

I've been struggling to get past my usual 4 hrs. Last night I was up to 4.5 hrs. I feel like I got roughly 3 hrs sleep grand total. Was awake a good portion of the time. Each day presents it's own set of ups and downs. To be sure, I'm not satisfied with 4 hrs and will keep trying for more. As a matter of fact, I feel like I'm falling asleep sitting here at the pc. The DME is sending me a new cushion (told me they have to reexam how often they can send them out now due to postage costs). Good grief! I think that I'm especially hard on cushions even though I don't tighten them down as much as I did in the beginning. I'm told that my 'pressure' isn't so great as to cause problems with the cushion. Not so bad on mouth leaks but bad enough on the eye leaks!

idamtnboy wrote:

StuUnderPressure wrote:At what point does the DME "certify" that the compliance has already been met?

Does the DME wait until she has met with her Sleep Doctor (after 30 days but before 90 days) before they will "certify" that the compliance has been met?

I don't think the DME actually "certifies" compliance. The requirement is there and they have to have documentation in their files in case Medicare should audit them. Medicare operates on what could be called the "we need to trust the contractor" rule, so when they submit a claim to Medicare it's assumed to be valid. Medicare doesn't have the resources to do otherwise. That's why there is so much fraud in Medicare services, because sadly, the rule should be "we assume the contractor will screw the gov't until they've shown themselves to be trustworthy."

THANKS for the input.

I did forget to mention.
She does have the modem attached to her S9 AutoSet - so the DME should already know that she has met the compliance requirements.
Seems like they would be anxious to get the modem back from her to use on someone else - since it looks like neither the patient nor Medicare is charged for the use of that modem.

As long as you are plugged into the system, you will never get big brother off your back and even after you unplug, there is no guarantee.

If you want insurance or government benefits, then you also want big brother on your back.

Big Brother can't watch everybody; so you just keep on being our "rabbit". . .
Thank you for your service.
I'm putting my head back down now.