DME's - The good, the bad, and the . . .

[jdireton]

I shudder when I read some of the DME stories on this board. I just read another post today of a DME trying to sell someone a discontinued machine!

That said, I have to really thank my DME for yesterday. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. sharp with no air. I thought it was just a power outage until I saw the ceiling fan spinning and the alarm clock glowing. No amount of fiddling with the cords, unplugging and replugging, or pushing buttons made any difference, the machine was dead. I checked the machine power plug with a Volt-Ohm meter and got 0V across all pins.

So, I figure I'm PAPless for a few days while the DME orders a replacement, albeit under warranty. I called the DME, they had their technician call me, he made an appointment for 2:30 (I had to leave work). He showed up at 2:32 with a new power brick in hand, quickly checked the connections (I understand), then plugged in the new brick and the machine startup screen glowed to life. I was back in business and never missed a night! By the way, this DME is an hour and a half drive away from me.

So, there are some good ones out there. I feel better and I know I slept better (or at all) last night because of a company that valued me enough to provide outstanding service. They are in the Mobile, Al area, PM me if you'd like their name.

[Dreamcatcher]

I hear so much bad press about DME'S but the only way you will change things is by standing together and starting a petition against them and their corrupt ways. Why not move against them and make people understand whats happening. There are millions of people in the states with Sleep related illnesses so why not start and E-Petition and start collecting signatures. It only takes one person to start the ball rolling.

The people have power when they stand together, just ask the politicians!

Power to the people

[JJJ]

I hear so much bad press about DME'S but the only way you will change things is by standing together and starting a petition against them and their corrupt ways. Why not move against them and make people understand whats happening. There are millions of people in the states with Sleep related illnesses so why not start and E-Petition and start collecting signatures. It only takes one person to start the ball rolling.
The people have power when they stand together, just ask the politicians!

I wonder if Medicare has studied the cost differential between the current rental system and outright purchase. The DMEs bill Medicare $1300 for my machine (on a purchase), but it can be had brand new from any of our suppliers for less than $700. And if prescriptions were eliminated the number of units sold would go up, and increased volume would lower unit cost even further. I suspect the current system costs Medicare a lot more than it needs to, and private insurance companies probably suffer equally.

I think the solution is to get the politicians to investigate the situation. If they discover that the government is paying too much there will be laws pretty quick. We can complain as a group, but we are not privy to the financial details in the current system. You can't be a very good whistle blower if you can't prove there is something to whistle about.

[TorontoCPAPguy]

Amen to that brother. DME's need to be wearing masks in these parts as well. I walked out with a ResMed S8 Escape, the government having paid about a thousand dollars and me about $1500 dollars for the 'package' (the BS package). Subsequently I purchased TWO S8 Autoset II's and then two S9 Autosets for about $650 each (I believe in redundancy where my well being is concerned especially). And after being quoted that MY SHARE of the cost for a Respironics Everflo Q oxygen concentrator without OPI was going to be about $150 or so per month, well... I just went right out and purchased two of them for about the same $650 each. Delivered. I was warned of the warranty issues and ignored them all. I have not had a problem with any of the gear in two years and if I should I am sure the cost of repair would be a whole lot less than paying $1800 a year for each concentrator, no? DUH? Ditto masks. $350 in Canada for a ResMed Quattro and $100 for a climate control hose. Versus $65 stateside for the mask and $40 stateside for the climate control hose. Online. No tax. Delivered to my Buffalo address. Don't know if US 'dispensers' are as greedy as Canadian or as ignorant, but I have to believe so. They upsold me on the mask, BTW, by reefing a cheap all plastic mask down onto my face and leaving the room to take a phone call. I gladly paid the extra money for a soft mask.... which I still have as it was crap. So, the short answer? The dispensers can well afford to offer top notch service and should. In fact, MUST! I just don't like being overcharged for service that is provided by SALESPEOPLE and CLERKS as opposed to technicians. Any fool can look important with a voltmeter as long as they don't electrocute themselves in their efforts. And yes, Virginia, there are some good ones out there.

Universal Medicare/Medicaid will bankrupt the American government faster than any war might. War is good for business. CPAP machines are not.