
Why insurers spy on sleep apnea sufferers via connected CPAP machines - YeGoblynQueenne
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/11/you-snooze-you-lose-insurers-make-the-old-adage-literally-true/
======
SiVal
Take a look at this casual statement on the website of the first CPAP supplier
that appears in a Google search:

"The newest CPAP machines track and store sleep data so you, your insurance
company, physician, or employer can follow progress made during your CPAP
therapy."

[[https://www.thecpapshop.com/our-cpap-
machines](https://www.thecpapshop.com/our-cpap-machines)]

Insurance company?! _Employer_?!!

What I want to know now is how I would go about _buying_ (not renting) my own
out of my own pocket with no insurance claim and using it without any network
connection at all.

~~~
ohithereyou
(See my other comment in this thread.)

People with undiagnosed sleep apnea are prone to falling asleep at the drop of
a hat and enter a state called microsleep[1]. People who fall into microsleep
often don't even notice that they've fallen asleep, and can snore during these
episodes. Since healthcare in America is often tied to employment, many
employers will require someone with this sort of condition to get treated for
it as a condition of continued employment. This results in your employer
wanting to know that you're complaint or if you're likely to fall asleep on
the job.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsleep](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsleep)

------
ohithereyou
I have obstructive sleep apnea. It is the worst feeling in the world to wake
up after a night of not using my CPAP - I'm lethargic, and multiple nights
without it lead to a lowered threshold of irritation and depression due to
being so exhausted. Getting diagnosed, getting a CPAP, and consistently using
it has significantly changed my life.

That said, the road to getting the diagnosis, even with good health insurance,
has been an expensive one even before the machine. The sleep study to confirm
cost $700 out of pocket, not one red cent covered by my insurance.

Acquiring the machine was an ordeal as well. I went to an ENT with the sleep
study results and he ordered a CPAP machine. The doctor's office sent the
order to an in-home medical supply company who got authorization from my
insurance. In order to use my insurance to buy the machine, I had to agree to
upload weekly data dumps of usage. The insurance would only cover part of the
cost to acquire the machine - leaving me with a $295 out of pocket to pay for
the machine with an additional $95 a month to pay for a year before the
machine was mine and the data dumps were no longer required. At any point if
they felt I was non-compliant I would be required to return the machine
completely out of pocket, and there was no reimbursement for the money spent
out of pocket at the end. So to pay for the machine (not including supplies)
with my insurance cost $1,435.

I could buy the machine outright from another in-home medical supply company
for $575, which I did.

------
Meph504
I suppose I'm lucky, I have Blue cross, they covered by sleep study, only cost
my deductible. I go to a sleep specialist clinic, I have an Apap machine which
auto adjust the air pressure as needed by on my breathing, and though my
machine has the slot for a cell modem, and could join the wifi, neither were
required.

I did have to bring in the machine, after something like 3 months, they did a
data dump to confirm usage.

But I've never had to provide any further data in the past several years.

my supplies, require a pre-auth request from my doctor, and their is a fixed
replacement schedule, which is much shorter than I go through supplies. the
supplies and machine follow the same cost share model that anything does on my
plan. which is 80%/20%

so all in I think I paid $400 for my machine and first 6 months of supplies.

P.s. if you are wondering about the data on your machine, and it stores it on
an SD card. I highly recommend Sleepy Head
([https://sleepyhead.jedimark.net/](https://sleepyhead.jedimark.net/)) you can
view all your data, graphed over time, etc..

