Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

Why So Expensive?
#21
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-04-2013, 06:37 AM)alby_c Wrote: The disparity of prices between Australia and the US is a painful topic for those of us here. It is not just
Resmed kit - the other vendors pile it on too.
There is much heat and noise on an Australian technical forum on this topic - http://whirlpool.net.au/ - just search for CPAP and you will find the threads. They discuss at length the best/cheapest etc way to source CPAP equipment and supplies as well as providing a local support forum for aussie OSA sufferers. They also have the customs declaration codes for import tax and GST exemption on CPAP machines and masks so that even if the price goes over $1,000 you can get it in without tax or hassle - just get the supplier to put the relevant codes on the package and its all sweet and then only one shipping charge- worked for me.
It is not just machines - replacement pillows for my mask cost $69 online Aussie websites- $79 in the shops and I can get them on line in US for $19. I can buy a single pillow with shipping cheaper than locally - its insane.

So to address your initial question - yes the price difference is shameful, none of the official reasons given for it ring true and unless you have an emergency, plan ahead, order from a US supplier in the supplier list and save some serious $$

with prices like that, I can only hope that the wages are much better there than in the U.S.!!
Post Reply Post Reply
#22
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-04-2013, 06:37 AM)alby_c Wrote: So to address your initial question - yes the price difference is shameful, none of the official reasons given for it ring true and unless you have an emergency, plan ahead, order from a US supplier in the supplier list and save some serious $$

It's horror stories like this that contribute to the fear that many Americans have of a national health care system. A doctor from Canada, now practicing in the US, told me that the Canadian national health care system works great, as long as you never get sick.

I realize that there are advantages to national health care, but it's disadvantages like this that turn people off.

The system we have now in the US is not much better, with prices being dictated by insurance companies and their lobbyists who make sure their interests are protected by legislators. We have a two-tiered pricing system where those with health insurance get a huge price break on not only CPAP equipment and supplies, but also all other medical goods and services.
Sleepster

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.
Post Reply Post Reply
#23
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-04-2013, 09:23 AM)Sleepster Wrote: It's horror stories like this that contribute to the fear that many Americans have of a national health care system.

I don't think it's anything at all to do with our health care system, which is actually pretty good. I'd much rather be sick in Australia than America - we have the option of private insurance (which seems way cheaper than yours) or public cover (Medicare). If you go the medicare route, you might have a long wait for elective procedures. But for acute and serious illness you'll get equivalent care, generally with the same doctors that treat private patients. Sleep apnoea isn't regarded as acute or serious in the same way a heart attack is. Added to this is the fact that it is a very small market here and prices tend to be higher.

More important from my viewpoint is the way in which the private services are organised. I go to a cardiologist at a particular private company. She refers me for an echocardiogram at the same company. She then refers me for a sleep test at the same company. The sleep test follow up is from the same company. And guess who sells the CPAP machines? Yep, the same company. A fully vertically integrated cardio / respiratory / sleep outfit set up to maximise margins every step of the way. Medicare covers a proportion of the cost and my private cover chips in, but I'm still out of pocket by a fair (or unfair) amount.

There is also the BS quotient - "If you buy a machine overseas we won't support you". "It's illegal to import medical equipment" (It's not) and so on.

But it's not just medical stuff that is too expensive here - everything is too expensive here. TVs, cars, food, you name it. The Chevrolet SS is made in Australia and sold cheaper in the US than the same model Holden here. There are all sorts of trade distortions going on, not helped by the so-called free trade agreements entered into by our government.

So long story short - yes things are too expensive in Australia. No - the price of CPAP has NOTHING to do with whether we have a centralised health system.

And if I may make an observation as a concerned and interested outsider - the fact that your Congress can shut down the government because they are trying to reverse a law already passed by that same Congress strikes me as preposterous. I'd call it funny, except the world market domination by the US is such that every other country is affected by what happens there. Your Congress' actions has depressed world financial markets, which leads directly to a loss of value in my superannuation fund. In other words, it's reducing the money I have available to live on in my retirement. Not happy.


Post Reply Post Reply
#24
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-04-2013, 06:55 PM)DeepBreathing Wrote: [quote='Sleepster' pid='46090' dateline='1380896632']

And if I may make an observation as a concerned and interested outsider - the fact that your Congress can shut down the government because they are trying to reverse a law already passed by that same Congress strikes me as preposterous. I'd call it funny, except the world market domination by the US is such that every other country is affected by what happens there. Your Congress' actions has depressed world financial markets, which leads directly to a loss of value in my superannuation fund. In other words, it's reducing the money I have available to live on in my retirement. Not happy.

There is a whole lot more to the government shut down than the law that was passed. Sure, that is the reason that is being given, but that is only a portion of the reason. I started a thread in the off topic section on this subject. Sorry that it is affecting you as it is.
Post Reply Post Reply
#25
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-04-2013, 06:55 PM)DeepBreathing Wrote: I don't think it's anything at all to do with our health care system, which is actually pretty good.

I don't live over there so I could be wrong. But it seems to me that the cost of durable medical equipment in any country must have something to do with that country's health care system. Whether that country has a national health care system or not.

I know it does here in the US.
Sleepster

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.
Post Reply Post Reply
#26
RE: Why So Expensive?
Sleepster, your right, they do put a huge mark up on. We have a national health care system which isn't good and a private health care system for peopl that can afford it. The problem with the national health care system is you could be waiting a couple of years to get appointments and then have to wait for a machine and get the very basic model. I paid for mine because I wanted the best machine so bought my Resmed Autoset for around $2,500 all up and got 20% back on private insurance. I would have paid double or triple that or taken out a loan if I had to to get the right CPAP for my health. Your health is the most impotant thing in the world and mine is so much better.

Just to answer me50's question about wages, our wages are a little higher than yours and we don't tip.
The lowest rate of pay is about $15.00 per hour and the aveage would be between about $20 - $25 per hour.
Things are more expense for a number of reasons one is our population is 23 million so the demand for things is less and drives prices up.
Post Reply Post Reply
#27
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-05-2013, 01:27 AM)Tez62 Wrote: Things are more expense for a number of reasons one is our population is 23 million so the demand for things is less and drives prices up.

Yes, the small market size is part of the reason. But it doesn't explain why, for instance, a Holden sells in the US for less than it does here. Or (more to the point of this forum) why a Resmed machine made in Australia costs more than twice as much here as it does in the US. I believe it's a matter of charging what the market will bear. Resmed have already been cited by the ACCC for illegal retail price maintenance and they bind their sellers to agreements which might comply with the letter of the law, but have the effect of pushing prices up.

As I said above, I don't believe the health system has much (or anything) to do with this - it's more a case of greed and avarice.
Post Reply Post Reply
#28
RE: Why So Expensive?
(09-28-2013, 09:53 AM)bwexler Wrote: I don't know why the price difference.
What prevents you Aussies from buying from a US supplier?

I bought a machine from a US supplier. It was a 2nd hand one and its going great! I will be buying a new one from them too. (I could buy 3 for the price of 1 over here!!).

As to the OP who said they didn't need a script to buy one in australia - how come? I had to have a script - would not supply me with one without it. Even a pressure change needed a script.
Post Reply Post Reply
#29
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-05-2013, 05:27 AM)weeble Wrote: As to the OP who said they didn't need a script to buy one in australia - how come? I had to have a script - would not supply me with one without it. Even a pressure change needed a script.

weeble, you don't need a script if you change the pressures yourself, it also depends on your sleep specialist. I monitor my data weekly through Sleepyhead and could see I needed to raise my pressure so I had my two yearly sleep study and went to see my sleep specialist and when he read out my results he said you need to raise your pressure by one and I 'll right a script for the change and I said don't bother I have already done it. He said Ok you know what your doing.
Post Reply Post Reply
#30
RE: Why So Expensive?
(10-05-2013, 05:20 PM)Tez62 Wrote:
(10-05-2013, 05:27 AM)weeble Wrote: As to the OP who said they didn't need a script to buy one in australia - how come? I had to have a script - would not supply me with one without it. Even a pressure change needed a script.

weeble, you don't need a script if you change the pressures yourself, it also depends on your sleep specialist. I monitor my data weekly through Sleepyhead and could see I needed to raise my pressure so I had my two yearly sleep study and went to see my sleep specialist and when he read out my results he said you need to raise your pressure by one and I 'll right a script for the change and I said don't bother I have already done it. He said Ok you know what your doing.

Unfortunately, even though I know how to change the setting, my specialist is not as nice as yours!! Plus, they only recommend fixed pressure. Apart from going private (to which I don't belong to any health fund) I'm stuck with fixed for the moment, although I can buy an auto from the States, which is what I am going to do.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Does Your Expensive Resmed 10 have Auto Daylight Saving Time Adjustment? S. Manz 45 4,975 11-07-2022, 09:53 AM
Last Post: Gary K
  Does An Expensive Pillow Help? PerChancetoDream 11 1,889 10-31-2020, 12:30 AM
Last Post: Deborah K.
  Why is the machine rental so expensive? Should we just buy a unit? Also masks... Twinsplus1 8 5,131 09-20-2012, 08:10 PM
Last Post: trish6hundred


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.