Australians Not Well Served for CPAP

[holden4th]

As an Australian and as I progress through my CPAP journey it's become very obvious that:

1 Sleep Disorders are not taken that seriously by our medical system (including health cover)

2 Australians pay more than premium for services and equipment.

For example: I am looking at the Resmed A10 autosense. It is priced here at $2000 yet I can get one from the US for half the price. The same goes for masks. I would like to try out an Amara View but at $300 from a well known Australian DME this is again twice the price I can get it from overseas.

Is this some sort of rort where suppliers know they have got us by the 'short and curlies'? I What's even worse is that one well known brand of machine is even made here in Australia.

There does not seem to be any organised follow up system for sleep disorder patients. Once you've had your sleep study and titration you are on your own. The only recourse is your local GP who, to be fair, are not sleep disorder specialists.

All I can say is thank heavens for forums like this one or we would be just left hung out to dry.

[eseedhouse]

As an Australian and as I progress through my CPAP journey it's become very obvious that:

2 Australians pay more than premium for services and equipment.

For example: I am looking at the Resmed A10 auto

Well, here in Canada the bill for the same machine plus mask and hose was $2400. Fortunately my insurance covered the whole thing.

[DeepBreathing]

I have to agree with Holden4th - despite the fact that Resmed is supposedly an Australian company and the machines are made here, we pay over the top for their devices. We've discussed this many times in the forum, and it seems to be that they will charge whatever the market will bear. The U.S. market being so large, competition forces the prices down.

The other really irritating thing is the miserly payouts from our health funds - I think I got $500 back on a $4000 VPAP Adapt. They pay more for "complementary" therapies including homeopathy, which is certified crap.

[Sleeprider]

I think a lot of the cost difference is due to aggressive negotiation by private U.S. insurers who manage the maximum cost that will be paid for equipment. We see prices similar to AU and Ca invoiced by some suppliers, but in the end, they get what they accepted in the contract. Even medicare negotiates prices with competitive bidding, and that tends to set the bar for everyone else. Of course we know government does things better,, more efficiently and with lower costs so that may explain the difference.

[DeepBreathing]

Even medicare negotiates prices with competitive bidding, and that tends to set the bar for everyone else.

Over here the government negotiates and subsidises the price of prescription drugs, which (in general) seem to be lower than elsewhere. Now if they would only turn their attention to sleep therapy..

[JamesW]

As an Australian and as I progress through my CPAP journey it's become very obvious that:

1 Sleep Disorders are not taken that seriously by our medical system (including health cover)

2 Australians pay more than premium for services and equipment.

For example: I am looking at the Resmed A10 autosense. It is priced here at $2000 yet I can get one from the US for half the price. The same goes for masks. I would like to try out an Amara View but at $300 from a well known Australian DME this is again twice the price I can get it from overseas.

Is this some sort of rort where suppliers know they have got us by the 'short and curlies'? I What's even worse is that one well known brand of machine is even made here in Australia.

There does not seem to be any organised follow up system for sleep disorder patients. Once you've had your sleep study and titration you are on your own. The only recourse is your local GP who, to be fair, are not sleep disorder specialists.

All I can say is thank heavens for forums like this one or we would be just left hung out to dry.

Yep we pay over the odds for most CPAP equipment, but we are a small market and the insurers have no incentive to force prices down. We are not the only country to be in the same position though and using the USA as an example of pricing gives an unbalanced outcome. You would think we could get better pricing seeing as though CPAP therapy was invented here. True, do some research on it. Getting a good sleep doctor is vital and I can go back to mine with concerns at any time , with a referral from my GP. So, they are not all bad, really. CPAP therapy is like any consumer product and it is up to the consumer to do due diligence regarding equipment and pricing. I shop around here between different equipment suppliers and get the best price I can.

[holden4th]

Even medicare negotiates prices with competitive bidding, and that tends to set the bar for everyone else.

Over here the government negotiates and subsidises the price of prescription drugs, which (in general) seem to be lower than elsewhere. Now if they would only turn their attention to sleep therapy..

Hello Sleeprider, I see you're from Perth. I'm flying over at the end of March to stay with my brother and sister-in-law. Let's see what they make of the CPAP machine

I've done the drive over twice now from the Gold Coast averaging over 600 kms per day. Knowing what I know now it might have been a much slower trip. The fatigue really caught up with me on the Border Village to Norseman section and carried on the next day. I got to the point where I was stopping every hour and this brings me to the point you made.

I heard on the news today that over 2.5 million Australians are affected by sleep apnea. With our vast outback, plus long and straight roads, no wonder we see so many deaths caused by driver fatigue. How many of them are attributable to sleep apnea?

But we don't see the govenment targeting what must cause a significant part of the road toll. Road fatigue is not a offence so as it doesn't raise any revenue it's well back on the priority list. Just think what could be done with just a small fraction of speed camera revenue. When we also think about work place accidents that have their root in sleep apnea and how mental health (supposedly so important in Canberra) is affected by poor sleep, surely this must be taken more seriously. How could we create an advocacy group?

At least in the US, health cover providers are prepared to be part of the system. NO such luck here. I have comprehensive cover but when I asked about cover from my health provider for CPAP I was politely told that there was none. Does any Aussie on this forum get some sort of cover from their health insurance?

[Diane1048]

I am from Australia and yes I had no insurance for a sleep disorder and if you do it is not much you will get back.

I went through a sleep clinic here and they have supported me completely - the machine is expensive yes - but I can ring them at any time and there are free sleep seminars to help you with good sleep hygiene.

[JamesW]

I am from NSW and the health fund I am in would have covered about 50% of my machine costs, if I had the top cover. If you did a comparison of all the available cover I think you would find a lot of funds do it. I opted not to take top cover so I funded it myself, however over a five year period the health fund payments would have been more that I could claim so it's swings and roundabouts really. Driver fatigue, whatever the cause is really the responsibility of the driver. If you get tired you stop and rest. Pretty simple.

[Phill]

FYI, should you have to buy one in the UK, Resmed S9 autoset including humidifier is in the region of £740.

Of course mine came "free" under the NHS, but of course as we know full well nothing in this life is ever free.

My level of medical care so far I would rate as poor, which appears to be par for the course as in US and Aus.