Recommendations for national suppliers?

[HenryBowman]

I just changed insurance plans and was given a shortlist of "in-plan" national suppliers to get my quarterly shipment of tubes, filters masks, etc. 

I started checking out online reviews of these companies and was swamped by bad reviews for all of them. I'm thinking I'm running into the syndrome where only unhappy customers take the time to write about it. So I thought I'd ask here instead.

Here is the shortlist. I'd very much appreciate hearing from anyone who has great positive feelings about any firm on this list. Thank you!

Aerocare
Aeroflow
Apria
Edgepark
Lincare/AHP (American Home Patient) 
Rotech
US Med

[Sleeprider]

Henry, most of the major DME suppliers did not get to this position without providing a good level of service and competitive prices, at least from the insurance company perspective. That said, all of the majors seem to have an abundance of low reviews from patients and even worse from their own employees in Glassdoor reviews. The real trick is to be familiar with your rights as a patient and what the DME can and cannot charge you for. That is not exactly easy for a new person to know, but if you feel anything is out of place, you can ask here, and we'll do our best to sort it out. Just know that good service and low price are in conflict, and the employees are in the middle, generally overworked and underpaid. The worst is if there is some dictator in the office that makes their own rules (yeah, I've seen that).

I personally use Rotech, but used Apria in the past. My worst experience was with a smaller company called Dynamic Healthcare. You already have a good machine, and are currently in a supplies maintenance mode. Most of the suppliers you list will be able to fulfill your needs to replenish mask cushions, frame, headgear, tubing, humidifier chamber etc. The real challenge comes in when it's time to obtain a new machine. There should not be much difference in price to you as that is already contracted by our insurance and your costs is the deductible and co-pay that is in your policy. You want a company that reminds you that you are due for resupply, does not try to over-sell or up-sell or trap you into uncovered charges, like monitoring, or surcharges. Being able to call and talk to a person is a huge benefit, and I would suggest making some calls and seeing how the different companies in your area respond. In my case, I know I can call the local Rotech office and ask for Belinda who seems to take an interest in making sure I get answers and that any claims are fulfilled. It should not be a big deal to talk to someone that does CPAP supply fulfillment and actually talk to a human. If you can do that, you will be ahead of the game. Be sure to read our Dealing With A DME wiki https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...with_a_DME

[SarcasticDave94]

The big thing where the DME fails most is the machines.

I've used Lincare, Apria, and a Rotech local subsidiary. At least here, none were really that great. Misinformation, lacking clear communication, incompetent workers, would rank high at the ones I used. Then again they probably don't like me telling them I get to choose what I want instead of blindly accepting their choice.