RE: DME, EPR, & O2 Help Needed!
Tell them never mind. Send a letter, not email, to the corporate office, cc'd to the local office and your insurance company. Then report them to the Better Business Bureau. By reporting them, you will perhaps keep others from going through the same dance you are.
Secondwind has excellent deals on open box and 'gently used' CPAPs. If you want to bypass insurance, this is the best deal. You may get cheaper from Craigslist but no warranty in that direction.
Will your insurance allow you to buy one then reimburse you?
PaulaO
Take a deep breath and count to zen.
RE: DME, EPR, & O2 Help Needed!
(10-25-2012, 07:55 PM)PaulaO2 Wrote: Tell them never mind. Send a letter, not email, to the corporate office, cc'd to the local office and your insurance company. Then report them to the Better Business Bureau. By reporting them, you will perhaps keep others from going through the same dance you are.
That sounds like a great idea, even if I don't prevail it will be well worth it to prevent someone else from going through this. I have never been through anything like this before with several health problems, it is so sad the DME is trying to keep me on a leash for return visits to change machine pressures, loaners, etc. instead of giving me the machine I was led to believe I had!
Quote:Secondwind has excellent deals on open box and 'gently used' CPAPs. If you want to bypass insurance, this is the best deal. You may get cheaper from Craigslist but no warranty in that direction.
Okay, I'll look into that option as well.
Quote:Will your insurance allow you to buy one then reimburse you?
I don't believe they will. I have BC/BS PPO. I believe I have to stay "in network" from past experience, I believe the DME's know this and sort of have an advantage over us with PPO.
I will check again for sure tomorrow in case it has changed or they might be able to make an exception! Thank you for the advice, well appreciated!
Tim
Finger Lakes Region, NY
RE: DME, EPR, & O2 Help Needed!
In any event, your insurance company would be interested in hearing that two DME's are refusing to fill a valid prescription. The DME's may have a change of heart after your insurance company contacts them.
RE: DME, EPR, & O2 Help Needed!
The sad truth is that I get several emails each week where people are having issues like this with a DME....
... and folks wonder why I have a such a cynical attitude against DMEs....
(and generally I'm talking about the brick-and-mortar DMEs, not online DMEs).
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
RE: DME, EPR, & O2 Help Needed!
Wow!
Talk about making things difficult.
I can't believe the crap they are putting you through.
I count myself very lucky that I did get a new & up to date machine from my DME
I did get information back from my insurance company at first that said I was only going to need to pay a little less than 200.00 but some how that changed to just over 1200.00 & in the end just had to go with it.
I know what you mean by your statement "trying to keep me on a leash for return visits"
It is a snow ball effect & a huge problem with health care costs.
Insurance company's want you to buy from a DME & may not cover your costs if you buy online so now the DME's can inflate the costs through the roof & in some cases may still cost you the patient about the same cost that you can find online.
I can understand that a local DME would need to charge more because they are supposed to be there to service your equipment & work with your Doctor & you but there seems to be so much corruption, greed & lies with no care about the patients.
One thing you learn if you have ever worked in sales is "Sale what you got in stock"
I think what everyone here has stated about sending the same letters out to all involved & talking in person to your Insurance company & ask for the name to whom you are talking to & ask for a case number because every time you call we seem to get a different answer.
It's no wonder the sales people get a bad reputation.
