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How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

aphyr.com

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Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#5
Another avenue of escalation is also via your state congressional rep / federal congressional rep. Their offices should always have a constituent services function whose very purpose is to help their constituents navigate these bureaucratic mazes.

(Disclaimer: I’ve never had to exercise this personally.)

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#7
Ha, I know Carelon! It's their pharmacy division for specialty (read: expensive) medication. Not a clue as to why they'd be involved in a CPAP claim, but this story does ring far too close to home.

I once spent months fighting United Healthcare to stop hounding me for a $2k bill that I categorically did not owe. Countless phone reps were unable to remove it from my account; I only solved the problem by making a big enough stink on Twitter for someone from corporate to get involved. Good times!

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#8
post #4

Congrats on triggering my chronic anxiety. I dread the day I require anything complicated that requires medical/insurance bureocracy in this country. I've had already ungodly share of issues with Aetna because they capitalized my surname.

I had my first serious medical procedure a year and a half ago, which required a rare specialist. My insurance, Anthem Blue Cross, covered everything, and called and mailed me ahead of time confirming my hospital stay at UCSF was approved and in network. So, YMMV.

Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days

#10
It’s surprising to me that not only in my home country is the process of having a CPAP machine covered by insurance a long and complicated one.

In my case, it took almost 12 months to receive my first CPAP machine, which then turned out to be refurbished. Initially, I had to visit a doctor, who had an available appointment in two months. He then referred me to a sleep laboratory (another two-month wait). After my sleep study, they sent me back to the doctor, who confirmed I had sleep apnea and said I needed to return to the sleep lab to test some settings—a further two months’ wait.

Then, after more than a month waiting for the next appointment, the doctor informed me that the settings they had tried were too low and wanted to send me back to the lab. I disagreed, but he gave me the prescription, and two months later, I received a CPAP machine with incorrect settings that didn’t help much.

Eventually, I purchased my own Philips Dreamstation Go because it automatically adjusts the pressure, and I’ve been sleeping well ever since.

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