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Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
#21
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
Yes, the coverage for CPAP varies by province.  In BC there is only assistance for the machine if you can demonstrate low income status.
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#22
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
My short experience has been that most of the folks here know ten times what the equipment provider outfits seem to know. I have also had them (equipment providers) tell me very misleading things that cost me money and wasted a lot of time.

The only advantage for me is due to insurance, if I had to pay out of pocket I would buy and take care of all the equipment myself and any other money spent would be for actual sleep doctor or sleep study. You can find out more than enough here to get yourself squared up.

The only advantage I have seen of the equipment provider is I can try any mask new for a month and return it with no charges.
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#23
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
(05-22-2017, 11:22 AM)chill Wrote: Yes, the coverage for CPAP varies by province.  In BC there is only assistance for the machine if you can demonstrate low income status.

In SK if you go through the Provincial Health system they provide you with a CPAP brick in the $300 range (I guess that would be covered if you're low income), but if referred to privately owned sleep clinic/equipment provider, they'll try selling you a $2000 machine that's worth less than half of that. I've settled on buying my own machine and looking after settings myself, by learning from the fabulously helpful people here on this board. The sleep clinic tried keeping me in the dark about everything xPAP related and the doctor that is connected to their clinic is utterly disinterested I providing useful info. Fine with me, I don't need them.
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#24
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
Hi there

Canadian living in the UK.

I bought my machine on Amazon direct and set it up myself for £700. OK, I got the pressure wrong to start with but its about right now and I'm (slowly) getting used to it. My wife thinks it's great!
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#25
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
This reply might be way too late but I'll post it anyway.

Not sure if I'm allowed to mention a particular site here but the race Wonder Woman belonged to has some amazing prices on CPAP equipment.
They may not ship to Canada but you can use a freight forwarding company - good luck.
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#26
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
I'll tell you about the limitless support I received from the "DME" that was my sleep clinic.

- They didn't care *at all* about my experience/comfort. They only cared that the AHI # my machine said was below 5. So they were willing to make tweaks to get the # below 5, but not to address my concern that I was not getting enough air.

- They were *unwilling* to give/rent/sell me anything other than a base model machine (fixed CPAP) and supplies (standard hose), despite my concerns implying I would do better with an *Auto* and a heated hose. They flat out refused.

- But they provided "limitless support" in the take-my-money department.

So, yeah, I'd recommend going *anywhere else*.
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#27
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
I'm replying without reading others comments, so forgive me for probably repeating what others have already said.

DO NOT rely on them giving you back your sleep data!!!!!! Take the data card out of the DreamStation before you return it, and download the plethora of info while it's still in your hands.

I had a follow-up 3 weeks after getting my CPAP. I had downloaded and looked at all of my data, so I knew the amazing amount of data Sleepyhead shows. When I turned in my machine, my sleep "dr" plugged my card into a reader, quickly looked at my "compliance" and "AHI", and declared me a success story and sent me on my way. I saw the info on his screen... amd it wasn't even 1/10 of what Sleepyhead shows.

Get the data yourself.
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#28
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
Would you advise me on how to get approval to switch from APAP to ASV when my CA score is lower than five events per hour and I have some periodic breathing? Also, my inhalation/exhalation flow curves are nowhere near normal. I have no insurance, so it is not an issue. 
I am in Alberta, Canada.
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#29
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
G Szabo, a number of members have been able to get ASV on the DotMed website. Most vendors there ship internationally. An alternative website specializing in exporting high-level devices is CPAPspecials. This company does appear to meet a niche market and has provided ASV to members outside the U.S. at a very good cost, without prescriptions or other issues. They are specifically not a licensed DME, and operate as a drop-ship company specializing in PAP, so we did not include them in our supplier list. I'm not aware of any complaints other than they appear to operate somewhat incognito.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

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#30
RE: Canadian here without insurance. Purchase advice needed.
Thank you for the quick response, Sleeprider!
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