Got rid of mine by going on keto/16-8 fasting by dropping 80lbs over about 9 months.
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How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
261–270 of 273 posts
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
The NHS is a failed system that absolutely nobody is envious of, except brits because for some weird reason, they seem to think that the alternative is poor people dying in the streets. Similar systems as the NHS have been introduced and subsequently canned in favor of more sane approaches in other European countries, which now have better (but still socialized) healthcare as a consequence. There is no central europe…
"The NHS is a failed system that absolutely nobody is envious of" ...except people in the US.
In my experience people in the US aren't envious of the NHS. Most of us are aware that the grass is not green on any side of that fence.
People in the US would like a system that works. That means not waiting 666 days for a CPAP. It also means not having the government strongly nudge you to off yourself with its assistance, as in Canada. And it means not having an ever-increasing number of deaths by waiting, as with the NHS, which typically don't happen here for most kinds of care.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/30/national-tra...
Sadly, healthcare is expensive to provide regardless of who's paying. The NHS is able to provide even that troubled level of care because it pays its medical staff poorly by American standards, which it is able to do because it relies heavily on immigrants, which it is able to do in large part because those immigrants can't come to America and make 3x the salary since we make it incredibly difficult for foreign medical credentials to be recognized here. If we quit doing that tomorrow, the NHS would collapse by Friday.
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#263Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is how a lot of big companies work. They self-insure. They set the rules, pay all the bills, and the insurance company just administers things. If you work for a company that does this, be aware that the things you dislike about your insurance coverage may well have been designed that way by your employer, not the insurance company. Don't curse the insurance company when you don't like the benefits. Ask your man…
Almost every sufficiently large employer does this. Instead of paying premiums to an insurance company which owns the risk (and also makes a profit from that) the large employer pays the actual costs of care, and a percentage to the insurance company for the administrative work (using their provider network, claims processing systems, etc.).
okay, but surely then they get reinsurance, no? also does it make sense for every huge company to have their own insurance department?
isn't this simply a service that big corps can buy from these huge insurers? so they end up as the payers, they can manage their own plan(s), but of course they actually don't even have one single actuary on payroll, right?
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#264Earlier quoted context omitted.
Almost every sufficiently large employer does this. Instead of paying premiums to an insurance company which owns the risk (and also makes a profit from that) the large employer pays the actual costs of care, and a percentage to the insurance company for the administrative work (using their provider network, claims processing systems, etc.).
okay, but surely then they get reinsurance, no? also does it make sense for every huge company to have their own insurance department? isn't this simply a service that big corps can buy from these huge insurers? so they end up as the payers, they can manage their own plan(s), but of course they actually don't even have one single actuary on payroll, right?
Yes they also typically buy reinsurance (insurance that covers individuals whose claims exceed some amount in a given year, like say $150,000). The company will have some people in HR who administer this program but they aren't duplicating a lot of what the insurance companies do -- that's why they pay for administrative services.
They rarely have actuaries on payroll but there are several boutique actuarial consultant who serve these companies (e.g. "given the geographical distribution of your employees and the higher use of services X, Y, Z, you would save $xxx if you choose insurer A over insurer B").
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#265Earlier quoted context omitted.
Part of it is a Tory problem - when they changed how the funding gets distributed, so that overall bigger fund is divided now into smaller pieces that still have to cover the same population, but without the scaling benefits that previous allocation provided. It's visible in other systems too, where for example you end up with local government politicians fighting for "prestige" or even perceived need to have a speci…
The NHS doesn't have a problem with too few patients anywhere. Just look at the chaos of the recently opened dentists that saw massive queues down the street, where police had to intervene to control the crowds. The reason: the dentist was new and accepting NHS patients. A system that can't even provide dental slots without needing police to break up fights is a catastrophically failed system and it is a huge problem…
It is a problem with funding when you need to break it down into smaller pieces because some very expensive things that are used by less patients now do not have support of budget for a larger area, and become an extra drain on the administrative region - because you still need to maintain neurosurgery units etc.
Suddenly there's less money for smaller, cheaper things.
And what is the alternative? For-profit systems?
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#266You can now understand why the UK is holding on the its NHS with white knuckles despite the Conservative push to dissolve it by stealth.
The NHS is so far behind the current science it's unreal. They're still using the 50% hypopnea defintion.
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
AKA; ...'eeeeyyyyy, IgottaGuy..."
In my experience, they are more professional. I engage with a firm who offers "customs brokerage" and "agent" services. They take care of any local payments necessary. I get a proper invoice that I pay with a wire transfer.
Yooz nedda'h gotta'h guy.. den, huz?
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
>How does that not demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the regulations? The only reason there was a recall was because of the regulations and the gargantuan and slow bureaucratic apparatus surrounding Philips. Philips tried, and would have succeeded without the regulations, to brush this off. They stalled, delated, cajoled, and lied. Consumer protection laws (i.e. just sue after someone dies) are almost worthless in t…
First off, thank you for the information. Second, this comment would have been better without the final three paragraphs, which amounted to flame bait.
>Second, this comment would have been better without the final three paragraphs, which amounted to flame bait.
Dunking on libertarians is the moral, ethical, and honorable duty of all sentient beings.
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#269Why dont you just ask someone coming from India to get you one ? They are available over the counter in India and there are a lot of Indian people hopping on a flight to the US all the time. I am sure there is someone in your office you can request, or someone in your locality.
You really need a professional to configure the CPAP, otherwise it can mess up your lungs (too much airflow) or make your sleep apnea worse (not enough airflow). That's why these are considered a prescription--the prescription is the settings on the machine.
This comment should be flagged for medical misinformation.
Re: How to Replace Your CPAP in Only 666 Days
#270Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you feel about the new surgical options like Inspire Sleep as an alternative for people who can’t tolerate CPAP?
It's a lot more involved than CPAP. You need to have a low enough BMI to qualify which excludes a not insignificant proportion of apnea patients. You need to have predominately obstructive sleep apnea since the device can't treat central apneas (where you just stop attempting to breathe). You need to be fit enough to tolerate surgery. You usually need to have an induced sleep study where you get put to sleep with pro…
Thank you for your detailed reply! I have no issues tolerating CPAP, so I’m not the target audience here. I’ve been seeing it advertised pretty heavily as of late and was curious about what the gotchas were.