# Cost of cpap machine? And big medical expense rant.



## Tracyarts (Jan 25, 2017)

My husband needs a cpap machine, and found out from our health insurance company that we have to pay $300.00 up front and an additional $50.00 a month in equipment rental fees. Does this sound right? 

It's not optional, so we have to cut back on something to work it into the budget. But my god, we're already spending $500.00 a month for prescription and specialist visit copays and medical financing payments. And I need at least $500.00 more to deal with abnormal cervical cells within the next few months. And that's not even counting the several hundred dollars worth of dental copays I need to save two of my teeth. And if either of us get sick or hurt, we have to suck it up unless it becomes potentially life threatening. No new glasses prescription anytime soon, either. 

I fucking hate that I have to just let my teeth go and fight with my husband over whose serious medical condition gets addressed first and which has to wait and hope for the best. His sleep apnea is so severe that he needs the cpap today. But he's afraid I'll develop cervical cancer if I keep putting off the office procedures to address the abnormal cells so he hasn't confirmed the order yet. 

Fuck it, maybe we'll flip a coin. And my cardiologist says stress will increase my risk for another stroke. If he doesn't clear me to drive and start looking for a full time job when I see him tomorrow, I'm going to have a nuclear meltdown in his office and stroke out on the spot.


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## Leem (Jan 25, 2017)

Health problems are rough and having to choose between the two of you is even more difficult. My heart goes out to you during this hard time. 

The price sounds right except that the "fees" should be to pay off the rest of the cpap machine not a monthly payment forever for a total cost of around 600$. You also need to add in monthly supplies of a new outer mask and filter every month and a new base mask and tube every three months. Although mine have lasted longer just because sometimes I forget to switch them on the first and then don't change them until the next first. 

I am sorry that you are going through this I know how difficult health issues can be. On the upside a cpap machine can completely change the users' life by giving them much more energy and getting enough sleep affects your overall health and well being in ways you don't understand until you have been basically sleep deprived for a year or two and then actually get some sleep. 

Good luck and be well


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## loopytheone (Jan 26, 2017)

I agree with everything Leem said. Sadly, the cost does sound about right, from what my american friends have told me (obviously, living in the UK, the cost was never an issue for me). CPAP machines do completely change your life and improve your health in lots of ways. 

However, I would prioritize you not getting cancer over it. Though it is absolutely awful that we live in a world where this is a choice that has to be made.


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## agouderia (Jan 26, 2017)

Admittedly, I know nothing about CPAP machines and their costs.

I am aware though of the freakishly high medical costs in the US. (Friend of mine literally paid 10-times as much for a normal delivery of her healthy 1st baby in San Francisco than she did with the equally healthy 2nd in Berlin - even in a private hospital there).

Nevertheless - from experience in different systems, renting equipment through your insurance or health plan is not always the most cost efficient way to do it.
(A few years ago when I broke my foot, my insurance would've been charged 450 for renting the special walking cast for 6 weeks by their medical supplies network. I bought the exact same cast online for 140; a friend used it for the same problem 2 years later.)

Look online, check with various medical suppliers what they would charge for the machine - you might get a significantly better price.

Good luck & good healing!


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## mvdk (Jan 26, 2017)

I'm pretty sure that the cost of acquiring one can be $1000-$1500. I can personally say that it does improve the quality of sleep enormously. I'm in Australia, and at the time I was much lower income, so my use of it is subsidised.

Sorry to hear that you have to choose between these things...


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## Tracyarts (Jan 29, 2017)

agouderia said:


> Look online, check with various medical suppliers what they would charge for the machine - you might get a significantly better price. QUOTE]
> 
> 
> That's what I ended up doing. The medical supplier we were going to get it from was just the preferred supplier of the sleep specialist office. I called around and found another one that worked with our insurance and would charge the initial fee in installments, and then bill the insurance for the monthly fee, and they could turn around and bill us for what wasn't covered. The trade off is that my husband will have had to wait another week to get the Cpap machine, but we were able to work it into the budget. He has had extreme sleep apnea for close to 20 years. 18 years ago he had surgery to correct some physical abnormalities that were blocking his airways and it relieved the apnea, but the surgeon said eventually it would come back later in life. So this time, it's a Cpap machine for sure, and he really does need it, his sleep apnea is to the degree that puts him at risk for stroke and heart attacks.
> ...


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## bigmac (Jan 29, 2017)

Do you have any choice of insurance and/or provider? When I needed a CPAP machine it was considered a preventative measure and didn't cost me a dime (other than the monthly cost of our insurance).


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## Tracyarts (Jan 30, 2017)

bigmac said:


> Do you have any choice of insurance and/or provider? When I needed a CPAP machine it was considered a preventative measure and didn't cost me a dime (other than the monthly cost of our insurance).



From what I understand, since we've barely started chipping away at our deductible this year, we have to pay a percentage on everything beyond office visits and prescriptions, we just pay normal copays for those.


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## dwesterny (Feb 3, 2017)

Plain CPAP (with a script) can be found online for under $500. Resmed, respironics (except the 60 series, those suck), fisher paykel are all good companies. You also have the mask and tubing and possibly humidifier to pay for. Still maybe cheaper than the initial price plus $50 a month forever. 

Call local DME (durable medical equipment) companies. Many patients quit CPAP and return their devices to the company or hand them in when they get an upgrade. Some DMEs will disinfect, test for functionality and clean them then sell them cheap for cash.


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## Leem (Feb 3, 2017)

The newer resmed series comes with a humidifier attached and it works great so there is no need to get a separate humidifier. Costs run about $30 a month.


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## dwesterny (Feb 3, 2017)

Leem said:


> The newer resmed series comes with a humidifier attached and it works great so there is no need to get a separate humidifier. Costs run about $30 a month.



That's a more expensive unit though, it also comes with heated tubing which is a nice luxury feature. Sounds like you're leasing the machine.


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## Leem (Feb 3, 2017)

dwesterny said:


> That's a more expensive unit though, it also comes with heated tubing which is a nice luxury feature. Sounds like you're leasing the machine.



Just to clarify my response the 30 dollars is for monthly supplies not the cost of the machine.


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## HereticFA (Feb 5, 2017)

Check Craigslist in your area. Frequently you can get lightly used or unused machines for less than $300, sometimes with unused headgear.

UPDATE: My citations were based on the Dallas area. I was surprised at the higher prices in Houston. There were a couple of older units for ~$260 but most were in the $450 range.


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## dwesterny (Feb 5, 2017)

HereticFA said:


> Check Craigslist in your area. Frequently you can get lightly used or unused machines for less than $300, sometimes with unused headgear.
> 
> UPDATE: My citations were based on the Dallas area. I was surprised at the higher prices in Houston. There were a couple of older units for ~$260 but most were in the $450 range.


Don't buy a machine off Craigslist, it's medical equipment. It won't be set for you (has to be the right pressure), it won't be cleaned after the last person used it and it's often illegal. Thats like buying someone's unused medication off of Craigslist.


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## Tracyarts (Feb 7, 2017)

We just went ahead and sucked it up, and made room in the budget for the machine from the medical supply company that would break the initial $300 down into monthly payments, and bill the insurance company directly for replacement supplies and let them bill us for anything we owe.

Honestly, he needed the machine immediately, and he needed it from a local medical supply company with great customer service and 24 hour assistance. His sleep apnea is so severe that he's already seeing the start of oxygen deprivation related brain damage. And he's at increased risk of a stroke. Which made me hit the panic button, because I'm struggling hard with stroke related brain damage now. If it were just him snoring and losing some sleep quality, it would be okay to wait and shop around and look for a bargain. But the fact that every day without cpap therapy was damaging his brain, and every day with it is helping undo the existing damage meant that it was an immediate need.


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## HereticFA (Feb 8, 2017)

dwesterny said:


> Don't buy a machine off Craigslist, it's medical equipment. It won't be set for you (has to be the right pressure), it won't be cleaned after the last person used it and it's often illegal. Thats like buying someone's unused medication off of Craigslist.


Like with a new machine, the used one would have to be set by the sleep specialist to the pressure indicated during the sleep study when the diagnosis of sleep apnea was made. And once you've replaced the hose, face mask, and filter (and reservoir for a humidifying unit) it will be just about as sanitary as a new unit. All those parts are considered consumables and are to be replaced regularly at different intervals. 

As TracyArts' husband's situation sounded dire, I was adding an option to consider. I've had friends whose finances were so bad they would buy meds for farm animals from a country feed store and self administer them after calculating and adjusting the dose to their body mass. While illegal, it got them a few more years of life.

TracyArts, I'm glad you found a way to get a CPAP so quickly. Hopefully your husband will adjust to it quickly and keep it on throughout the night.


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## Tracyarts (Feb 8, 2017)

HereticFA said:


> TracyArts, I'm glad you found a way to get a CPAP so quickly. Hopefully your husband will adjust to it quickly and keep it on throughout the night.



He's been using it less than a week and already starting to notice an improvement in his sleep quality, energy level, and alertness. He doesn't have any issues keeping it on at night because when he falls asleep with it, he's out like a light and sleeps soundly through the night. It was long overdue, he'd been dealing with sleep apnea again for at least a year, if not longer, and it was getting progressively worse. 

The surgical treatment he had around 2000 did work well for him, while it worked. But he went into it knowing it wasn't permanent. But, he also needed to have most of the procedures done for general wellness purposes. He had his tonsils and adenoids removed, and because he had been so prone to infections when he was a kid, they were enlarged and almost touching in the middle and impeded his airway when sleeping. Same with his nose. He had a severely deviated septum which completely blocked one nostril and partially blocked the other, so next to no airflow through his nose. And sinus polyps that contributed to chronic infections that made the whole thing worse. He really only got the soft palate tightening surgery as an add on because the ENT surgeon was already in there doing so much work and it would let him go several years without needing a cpap machine.


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## dwesterny (Feb 8, 2017)

HereticFA said:


> Like with a new machine, the used one would have to be set by the sleep specialist to the pressure indicated during the sleep study when the diagnosis of sleep apnea was made. And once you've replaced the hose, face mask, and filter (and reservoir for a humidifying unit) it will be just about as sanitary as a new unit. All those parts are considered consumables and are to be replaced regularly at different intervals.
> 
> As TracyArts' husband's situation sounded dire, I was adding an option to consider. I've had friends whose finances were so bad they would buy meds for farm animals from a country feed store and self administer them after calculating and adjusting the dose to their body mass. While illegal, it got them a few more years of life.
> 
> TracyArts, I'm glad you found a way to get a CPAP so quickly. Hopefully your husband will adjust to it quickly and keep it on throughout the night.



The air pathway inside the machine is not replaceable on home units and depending on the setting used exhaled breath can make inside the machine putting the user at risk for transfer of upper respiratory infections. Of greater concern would be the conditions in which the device was stored and how long it was stored for. The included filter on CPAP machines filters the air before entering the machine from the outside (primarily for the purpose of preventing dust from getting to the compressor), but if there is mold, bacteria or insect life (yes, this happens) inside the CPAP unit that will be blown directly down the hose to the person using it. You could probably get away with adding a HEPA filter between the CPAP machine and the hose but those are not standard items and may require a prescription. They also need to be replaced regularly or as they clog they will increase the resistance of the CPAP circuit.


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