Sleep Industry Practices in the News

[Dawnstar]

https://www.propublica.org/article/you-s...rally-true

[Fats Drywaller]

Good one.  Thanks for the link.

Marshall Allen wrote: "Kristine Grow, spokeswoman for the trade association America’s Health Insurance Plans, said monitoring CPAP use is important because if patients aren’t using the machines, a less expensive therapy might be a smarter option."  What less expensive therapy, Kris?  There ain't no such animal.  Sounds to me like a lot of hand-waving, which we would expect from "spokeswoman for the trade association America's Health Insurance Plans".

It's good that someone is trying to expose the racket that is our current CPAP-mfr/insurance/DME boondoggle for $$$$$$$.  There's no excuse for a $500 machine ending up costing several times that, even when the patient isn't paying for it.  And we know that the retail prices are inflated to begin with, by the manufacturers.

As I've said, an interesting admission of that last point, maybe not noticed by a lot of folks, is the mask-return insurance offered by some retailers. Let's say, just to make up some numbers, that a mask sells for $100 and you can buy return insurance for $20. Then it's obvious that the wholesale cost of the mask to the retailer is no more than $20. I'm sure that the margins on the machines are much lower, but the prices are still unreasonably high.

(BTW,  the Propublica people have done a lot of other good work; for instance, they have tried to compile a database of doctors who are known to be on the take from the Big Pharma craporations.  That's called "Dollars for Docs" and you can find it at their web site.)

[Fats Drywaller]

Also interesting is an earlier article by Marshall Allen in the same series:

Why Your Health Insurer Doesn't Care About Your Big Bills

Patients who want to know what they’ll be paying, let alone shop around for the best deal, usually don’t have a chance.  Before Frank’s hip operation, he asked NYU Langone for an estimate.  It told him to call Aetna, which referred him back to the hospital.  He never did get a price.

Imagine if other industries treated customers this way.  The price of a flight from New York to Los Angeles would be a mystery until after the trip.  Or, while digesting a burger, you’d learn it cost 50 bucks.

Part of the problem with our medical industry is that the patient is not assumed to be the customer.  The general attitude toward the patient is something like "We'll handle this among ourselves; you don't need to know about it.  Go away."  I think most sleep-apnea patients are familiar with that.

[SarcasticDave94]

Dawnstar, thank you for the link to this article. I'd assign this as homework.