I wanted to start a thread to introduce myself, and to have a place to add posts regarding my therapy and any questions I might have.
I was recently diagnosed with "severe" OSA (AHI = 45.4 3% rule; 39.4 4% rule). My original (home based) test was in August of this year, and a follow up All Night Titration Polysomnogram was completed on November of this year.
The delay between the home test and the polysomnogram was due to a lack of communication from my sleep Dr. In October, I was called by someone at the Sleep Dr's office asking me about the "results from my Titration Study". I informed the caller that I had no idea what they were talking about, and that I had not acquired any results from my home sleep study. It was then that I was informed that I had "severe OSA", and that I needed to schedule a "Titration study". Nice.
Since then, I found this forum and began to educate myself about OSA. Thank you for this awesome site. Perhaps the most useful information has been about the shenanigans played by Insurance, the DME provider, and the Dr. (the three amigos). Had I not been forewarned about the breadth and depth of the potential incompetence, I would have lost my mind by now.
The legitimate CPAP shortage (thanks Philips), COVID impacts, the supply chain mess and finally my ignorance have created the perfect storm of delays. Subsequent to the Titration Polysomnograph, and after some prodding, the Sleep Dr's office faxed an equipment order to a local DME provider (for an "APAP 10-15") - a place called Timberlake.
I called Timberlake and explained that since I had met all deductibles and Out of Pocket maximums with my insurance, I would really like to have the equipment dispensed prior to January. I was met with total indifference. The next week I found out that my retiree health insurance from my company was going to change in January - an unwelcomed complication. I used that fact in another call to Timberlake to explain that if they wanted to make any money at all - they needed to obtain a machine and dispense prior to January. I was met with indifference yet again.
Out of frustration, I called my insurance company (the current one) and asked for recommended local DME providers that are in-network and I was given three companies. I called all three and only one - Lincare - claimed they had machines (I was told they were ResMed AirSense 11 Autosets (!) ). I had read and heard about how bad Lincare was, so I was very skeptical about what I was being told. Nonetheless, I felt that if there were a chance to get a machine before I turn into a pumpkin on January 1 - it was worth a shot. Moreover, they are listed as a provider for my *new* insurance starting in January so there's that as well.
Called the Dr. to get them to redirect the Equipment order to Lincare, and they twiddled their thumbs for a week (I made multiple calls asking about the status). After a discussion with the actual Dr (not office personnel), the Equipment order was finally faxed to Lincare (or so they said). I called Lincare the next day and was told they had no idea who I was and they had no fax from my Dr. After another call to the Dr to tell them no fax was received by Lincare, I was finally able to get verbal from Lincare that they had my Equipment order. Later the same day, I got a call from my contact at Lincare telling me that my insurance says that Lincare is not a provider for my policy. Wait...the insurance company that I called to obtain Lincare's name from, is now saying that Lincare is not part of their DME provider network. Oh, and they *don't* have any machines...SMH...I guess *more* phone calls are needed to sort this out...
In the meantime...
I don't think I will be receiving my APAP machine before the end of the year, and I am resigned to having to pay out of pocket for my new machine (one way or another).
Therefore, I am seriously considering just acquiring a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset from one of the online providers listed elsewhere on this site (~$1.1k).
Aside from not recording ~$1k against my deductible for the new machine, are there any other downsides to just ordering on my own online?
Assuming that waiting until whenever a DME provider gets a machine -and decides it's in their best interest to dispense it- that it's likely to be a ResMed AirSense 11 - would it be best to wait things out to get the newer model?
Could I use the DME for just for masks and other miscellanea having acquired the machine online?
<sigh>
Thanks for listening and providing assistance!
Mikey