DME Advice Please

[Donna]

I was diagnosed with OSA several years ago. I used Apria as my DME provider then, although I was very unhappy with them. I stopped therapy a couple years into it (I know, crazy). Symptoms have worsened to the point that I've decided to attempt compliance. I'm having a repeat sleep study Wednesday night. I now have Medicare and Tricare for Life. Does Medicare have stipulations and/or in network providers? What DME company do you people that share my insurance carriers recommend?

[AndyB]

Donna -- I have Medicare and another supplemental insurer, but it's Medicare that will determine what DME you can use.  Medicare has a competitive bid procedure where potential DMEs compete in geographic areas to be approved by Medicare for reimbursement purposes.  Depending on your location you will likely have several DMEs to chose from.  I'm in Wisconsin and I use Lincare; it's been OK.

Here's the link to Medicare's list of approved DMEs:  https://www.medicare.gov/supplierdirectory/search.html

[Donna]

Andy, thank you for your reply. I am new to Medicare. I did not realize that I needed to select a DME company from the Medicare Provider list. I also see that there are those who accept consignment and those who don't. I'm assuming that if I wish to avoid out of pocket expenses, I should chose a company who accepts consignment? Thanks for sharing that link with me.