As for taking a road trip, I have somehow become a very old person with a variety of mobility issues and other health infirmities, so a road trip puts a serious burden on me. This company has contracted with Medicare to reliably and responsibly supply Medicare patients with medical products. I feel ...

Well palerider, it is the only place in town that you can get supplies from Medicare. They have the contract and no other DME can provide for Medicare patients. I pay for the insurance so I expect to get the benefits.

What would you do?

Catnapper - Joanie

Another call. A perky young woman tells me that I cannot have a new machine because Medicare only allows a new machine every 5 years, and also that my 2006 sleep study did not document my need for bipap. She said I got my current machine in August 2013. I informed her that I got the machine in 2012....

Dear chunkyfrog, I would not want you to hold your breath that long anyway.

Another call just now telling me they still have not heard from the doctor about the documentation. The person calling me does not speak English very well, and spends most of her time apologizing to me. She has some of my records, but not all. I asked how they could give me a bipap machine in 2012 w...

Not the same DME. I didn't have Medicare at that time. I did start Medicare about a year later and they paid for supplies with no problem. I had to replace the original bipap after 5 years and Medicare gave me no problems at that time. Then Medicare had the local DMEs bid for their contract. A diffe...

Thanks for the feedback. I forgot how the DME operates. The one I have tries to get out of supplying anything. They insist they haven't gotten new orders from the doctor, so I always get a copy to show them. Then they miraculously find the order in the computer. I haven't heard from the doctor yet, ...

My doctor ordered a new bipap machine for me at my last visit. I have been using a bipap for over 11 years, most of that time being paid for by Medicare. For the new machine they want to see a sleep study that shows I failed cpap. When I got my bipap, all that the doctor needed to order it was the s...

After hearing that my usual pharmacy had no shots available and no hope of getting them soon, I called around to see if I could find some other source. The third pharmacy I called had some available. The pharmacist told us that the shot would be covered by Medicare part D, and cost depended on how m...

We went to the local pharmacy to get the vaccine yesterday and they told us they have been out of it for a month, and can only get 10 shots at a time. No telling when they will get more. Also said there has been a national shortage.

Catnapper - Joanie

To celebrate my 75th birthday I bought a Yamaha piano and started taking lessons. Found a great teacher who will go with the flow. My piano can sound like lots of musical instruments, records, accompanies me and can even let me play "guitar" with my left hand and "trombone" with my right, or whateve...

HI My bi-pap machine has reached the 5 year mark or soon will. My doctor gets the card to check my results every year so he may be able to tell something from that. My question would be, do you need to have the machine tested somehow to see if it does actually deliver the pressure it says it does? I...

For a couple years I have been using the same mask, same machine, same settings, same pressure and so on. Boring but effective. The water tank of the humidifier uses almost exactly half the water every night. Suddenly, about a week ago, I found the tank empty when I went to fill it. Odd, but maybe I...

The point of my post had to do with how much better I slept with the mask properly fitted and everything well maintained. You would think that after eleven years I would remember that. Also a point to make to newbies. (And Oldies, like me.) I think the old woman also wanted to complain a bit. Catnap...

Pugsy, I always ask for the blue/gray but they frequently send the pink/gray one because they decide "for her" would be better. That means I have small and extra small cushions which don't fit. I wear the medium ones but if necessary, I can use the large. The blue/gray one comes with medium and larg...