San Francisco Bay Area CPAP users on Medicare: Need new DME

You probably know already, but as of July 1, Medicare will only reimburse CPAPS and supplies through a limited number of providers. Up here in Contra Costa county, they are
Apria, Lincare, Pacific Pulmonary, Lifecare Solutions and N2Sleep.

The first four have some of the ugliest consumer reviews I have ever seen on yelp.com. Does anyone know anything about N2Sleep's service? They have no reviews on Yelp.

There are a couple down near San Jose too: Valley Oxygen and Sleepmed therapies.

Thanks for any good advice...

dlockesf wrote:You probably know already, but as of July 1, Medicare will only reimburse CPAPS and supplies through a limited number of providers. Up here in Contra Costa county, they are
Apria, Lincare, Pacific Pulmonary, Lifecare Solutions and N2Sleep.

The first four have some of the ugliest consumer reviews I have ever seen on yelp.com. Does anyone know anything about N2Sleep's service? They have no reviews on Yelp.

There are a couple down near San Jose too: Valley Oxygen and Sleepmed therapies.

Thanks for any good advice...

I used the Apria office in San Jose to get my machine. I anticipated lots of trouble, but got none. Not to say it can't be had! I have only bought supplies from cpap.com though because I don't want any hassle. The RT I worked with was very, very helpful, though I can't recall her name.

I am in the Chicago area and the new rules are going into effect for us as of July 1 as well.

I am dreading this, as, like you, I have noticed a lot of complaints against Apria, the closest place to me. Even the sleep center's supply arm was not approved as a supplier. I used a different service from them because they don't supply ResMed, and they were not approved, either. So all these places with bad ratings made it, and the good places were ushered out. It's upsetting to me because my old supplier came to me, set me up in my home, and the RT was there a good 45 minutes. They send me stuff by mail. Now I am going to probably wind up having to travel to Apria or one of the other places. This is of itself a hassle as I am in a smaller town, and the places they are located are unheard of. They are all tucked off in little rabbit warrens. Apria is on a street I cannot get to from the north unless I get on a highway heading south, then exit at the first exit, then travel north!

My one consolation is that I can keep my old provider until my 13 month rent to own period is up in November, at which point I will probably just shoot myself, LOL.

dlockesf wrote:You probably know already, but as of July 1, Medicare will only reimburse CPAPS and supplies through a limited number of providers. Up here in Contra Costa county, they are
Apria, Lincare, Pacific Pulmonary, Lifecare Solutions and N2Sleep.

The first four have some of the ugliest consumer reviews I have ever seen on yelp.com. Does anyone know anything about N2Sleep's service? They have no reviews on Yelp.

There are a couple down near San Jose too: Valley Oxygen and Sleepmed therapies.

Thanks for any good advice...

I also live in Contra Costa County, due to my insurance I had to use Apria for years, I can't imagine another business being worse. I'll never go back to them.

I think on this competitive bidding program ALL DME's are going to stink. The way they were awarded the contracts in competitive bidding was to be the very lowest bidders, so I'm certain that in order to keep their profit margins high they are going to do what's expedient for them and not for YOU.

That means they will only make the cheapest machines and masks available, drop ship whatever they possibly can so they don't have to spend time and money talking to you or helping you, and great difficulty with billing and returns as it will all be centralized and automated.

You see complaints about Apria and Lincare because these companies have already been operating this way for years. It won't even be much of a change for them. It's certainly not going to improve their "customer" service.

Keep in mind that the DME's do not see us as their customers. Their customers are the insurers and Medicare, and to a lesser degree the doctors who give them referrals. We are merely incidental to the process. As long as they keep the insurers happy with low costs, they remain in business, no matter how lousy the service they provide is. Whether or not they provide good service to us one bit is not even part of the equation. It's always been that way, but there were a few good DME's who saw it differently. Many of the good DME's didn't even bother to bid in this process, because they knew they could not provide a decent level of service to us, the CPAP users, at the low bids required to win the contracts.

People who have the means will have options. They can pay out of pocket elsewhere and get what they want, or pick and choose when to use the Medicare approved vendor. If you can't afford to pay out of pocket elsewhere you may be SOL for new replacement data capable machines and masks of your choice.

dlockesf wrote:You probably know already, but as of July 1, Medicare will only reimburse CPAPS and supplies through a limited number of providers. Up here in Contra Costa county, they are
Apria, Lincare, Pacific Pulmonary, Lifecare Solutions and N2Sleep.

The first four have some of the ugliest consumer reviews I have ever seen on yelp.com. Does anyone know anything about N2Sleep's service? They have no reviews on Yelp.

There are a couple down near San Jose too: Valley Oxygen and Sleepmed therapies.

Thanks for any good advice...

I am also in Contra Costa County and have used Pacific Pulmonary for 3 plus years. I have had very few issues with them. I also have used several others in the area who did not get the bid from Medicare and will no longer supply me after July 1, 2013. I have found that with most DME's you have to be a little pushy if you have issues. I always ask for a supervisor if I am not getting any where with the first person I speak to when I have an issue. I am not sure how much pressure you will be able to exert when there are fewer DME's to deal with on July 1.

We all feel the same frustrations with this Medicare bidding program. Maybe this will help others out like it helped me for my cpap supplies. I started using CPAP Care Club that is cpapcareclub dot com since they can service Medicare in all the bid areas. Now I can count on getting my re supplies like clock work every 3 months. Hope this helps others!!!

Just FYI, N2Sleep has been good for my first parts order. Responsive on the phone, good follow up.

Dlock... I just sent you a private message.

The post on cpapcareclub: I've seen this several times before--always by an unregistered poster.
. . . (a shill?) Informed pappers want to know.

California's Bay Area branch of Apria has done a pretty decent job of getting some special order stuff that I needed, tho it took almost a month for each order. On the other hand, when I asked the Apria customer rep how I could try different FFMs to see which was the best for me, the gentleman told me to first look at online suppliers (he specifically mentioned CPAP.com), then get some facts/ideas and tell Apria what caught my eye. Next he suggested I come to the monthly clinic they hold in my small town for a fitting and info. I said, "You mean you don't come to my area with a selection of masks to try?" He said 'No'. I asked what the online browsing was supposed to achieve and he said just find something you think you'd like and we'll make an effort to get that model and size mask to the clinic... no guarantees tho!" Bass-aak-wards IMO, and it's mainly because the major DMEs are closing all their satellite brick and mortar shops and putting it all online (while milking CPAP.com's online efforts in the process ) Addendum: I can only get a new mask and headgear every six months so it's not very productive to hunt and peck with masks I find online. Why? Because Apria has a strict no return policy on everything they deliver to your door, whether the manufacture's package is opened or unopened.

Based on Yelp and G+ reviews, we went to Apria in Concord with the worst of expectations. When I asked to see a supervisor regarding my confusion and suspicion about the equipment my doctor prescribed, they responded with respect and resolved my concerns immediately by contacting the DME and my doctor while we waited, all of which convinced me that we will be ok with them. I was pleasantly surprised by their total professionalism and courtesy. We walked out the door with exactly the right equipment, the items they originally had prepared for us. It was time to order our first replacement mask last week, and I did have one less than perfect telephone conversation with an obviously disgruntled employee in their central office. I was told that they didn't carry the Quattro Air in stock and it would take 2-3 weeks to get to me, but the mask arrived here two days later. If you wind up with Apria, I hope you have a similar positive experience.

I use the Apria office in So San Francisco. I chose them because they were open on Sat (not for long, though). I've gotten what I want from them, but only because I insist. They lie to you like most Apria locations. Don't go in without EXACTLY what you want on an Rx. Don't reorder anything without the manufacturer's model #, or they will substitute. Don't assume they will give you a new blower or humidifier without checking run hours. It took me 3 hours to get my initial setup, and they never took the mask out of the plastic. They never remind me to reorder supplies, but their replacement schedule matches Medicare and I follow it.

In between, I use CPAP.com, where they have good prices, return insurance, and are both delightful and knowledgeable.

Sir NoddinOff wrote:I can only get a new mask and headgear every six months so it's not very productive to hunt and peck with masks I find online. Why? Because Apria has a strict no return policy on everything they deliver to your door, whether the manufacture's package is opened or unopened.

It is only strict if you do NOT INSIST that they make an exception.

I helped someone get a ResMed S9 AutoSet in Feb 2013 from a local Apria.

Part of that purchase was the stipulation that she be allowed to return the mask for an exchange during the 1st 30 days. Although she had been on CPAP already, she wanted to try a new mask & was not sure it would work. Apria agreed to it & even noted that on the invoice.

The new mask did work for her, so she did not have to exchange it.

Jeannh wrote:I use the Apria office in So San Francisco. I chose them because they were open on Sat (not for long, though). I've gotten what I want from them, but only because I insist.

That IS the key to dealing with any DME.

They WILL do what you want, but YOU have to ask (politely DEMAND).