Bleep/DreamPort nasal mask review thread

[Pugsy]

The Bleep is now my every day mask, at least until my plunge into 4 boxes of ports on my own dime is over with. I'm thinking the DME suppliers will latch onto this, since with the disposable ports it insures an income stream, unlike other masks/pillows that users learn they can extend the life on.

You would think that DMEs could do the math but so many of them are just plain short sighted about it.

Let me see...I have a DME brick and mortar store and I sell maybe 1 or 2 nasal pillows a year to someone using the P10...or I can sell 2 boxes of ports a month...and the HCPCS billing code is the same so the money I get is the same...
which one would I make more money with????
1 or 2 nasal pillows a year...or 24 boxes of ports....duh......
Shooting themselves in the foot IMHO...talk about a cash cow and they snub their nose at making more money.

[edfreeman]

I think they'll figure all that out, I know I'm telling mine it's a sure thing if they'll adopt and push it. Every other mask they sell can last longer than the 2 weeks (pillows) or 4 weeks (FFM) that is the norm for insurance coverage. This one can't, and they can sell (and profit) from it.

While I continue to believe the substitution of a P10 (or similar) hose for the original is paramount for this device, there is no better for those who can do a nasal device. I've gotten out my Dr. Dakota chin strap to solve my mouth breathing problem, and I'm enjoying the "no strap" experience immensely.

[zoomzoom]

The Bleep is now my every day mask, at least until my plunge into 4 boxes of ports on my own dime is over with. I'm thinking the DME suppliers will latch onto this, since with the disposable ports it insures an income stream, unlike other masks/pillows that users learn they can extend the life on.

You would think that DMEs could do the math but so many of them are just plain short sighted about it.

Let me see...I have a DME brick and mortar store and I sell maybe 1 or 2 nasal pillows a year to someone using the P10...or I can sell 2 boxes of ports a month...and the HCPCS billing code is the same so the money I get is the same...
which one would I make more money with????
1 or 2 nasal pillows a year...or 24 boxes of ports....duh......
Shooting themselves in the foot IMHO...talk about a cash cow and they snub their nose at making more money.

I think they need to do a better job with pricing. At $80/mo that means I won't satisfy my $700 deductible until month 9. Then my total cost would be about $700 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = $732 for just the masks alone, per year. Granted, at least it would help me meet my deductible LOL. This was the first year I've met my deductible--and that's because of purchasing the actual cpap machine (and the associated sleep testing).

I think that's too much. At that point, I might as well get a normal pillow mask, and then a nasal mask, and a full face mask (for when I'm completely congested), and still have money left over and the masks would last significantly longer.

Hopefully they are able to fix the pricing structure.

[zoomzoom]

Stop! Don't follow the instructions. Don't run the tape up the nose vertically. I did that the first night and they poked out the side of my nose and I got a little leak. It's way better angling out toward your cheeks or ears. I watched the video with Jason on his review and his cut to of Stuart (inventor) putting them on. Stuart points the cut-off edges out at the ears. I mimicked that the second night. He does that on his other videos as well if you watch closely. It makes fastening the dreamports way easier. So I was like why the hell are the instructions that way? So I called the number to ask. I got Stuart on the second ring. By the way, Stuart's cell phone is the website number. Crazy!!!! What the hell is he thinking? He explained the dreamports were made to work in whatever direction you need them. Change it up until they fit you best. But making the points of the tape go toward the ears was best, according to Stuart. Something about the plastic tubes on the tape angled downward better for snapping everything together. We talked for about 10 minutes. Sorry, Stuart, but figured you didn't care anyway, so I'm sharing it. He even followed up with a dang text the next day. That's insane. Nobody from resmed or respironics is going to do something like that. I have a whole new appreciation for somebody willing to go that far down the rabbit hole.

Wow, now that is customer service! I will try it again and have the ends point to ears and see how that goes.

My next issue is how loud it is (no diffuser), but someone earlier posted a hack of using a resmed filter as the diffuser, so I will give that a go if I can figure it out

[zoomzoom]

Slightly unrelated question, but somewhat related:

If my insurance allows for pillows every 2 weeks, then are DMEs able to back date purchases? For example, if I order a Bleep 2 pack, can they charge one for two weeks ago and one for today? Or do I literally need to put in an order every 2 weeks and pay for shipping, etc?

[zoomzoom]

I have isolated part of the extra noise. It is the area below my nostrils, basically the upper lip mustache area. Adhesive has a hard time stick stuck to skin with stubble. I always have a stubble. I will use an electric razor add shave off the moustache double tomorrow. I don't want to do it now or I would waste the dream ports. Exhale is still somewhat loud without a diffuser. Will post night 2 graphs later.

[Pugsy]

Slightly unrelated question, but somewhat related:

If my insurance allows for pillows every 2 weeks, then are DMEs able to back date purchases? For example, if I order a Bleep 2 pack, can they charge one for two weeks ago and one for today? Or do I literally need to put in an order every 2 weeks and pay for shipping, etc?

I don't think insurance would be happy if anyone back dates anything but what can be done to limit shipping costs is buy in bulk more.
Even Medicare allows a person to get a 3 months supply of nasal pillows (so you can get 6 if you want) and doesn't make a person go get a new one every 2 weeks.
Most insurance companies will follow medicare guidelines. You would need to check with your insurance company just to make sure though....there are some insurance companies that just love to do their own thing.

The filter diffuser hack works well to limit the vent noise annoyance. Plain ordinary gauze also works well but it's real hard to keep it in place and not easy to tape gauze to the soft silicone and have it stick well. Just be careful and don't make the little opening in the filter too big or the filter will tend to slide down away from the holes and you lose the diffusion.

[Dreaming1]

I have taken a stretchable ACE ankle wrap and cut it into 1/2” wide strips about 5 inches long and stretched it over one side of the vent holes, through the center of the silicone, back under the other vent and wrapped it back up at the center of the silicone. Got some of my wife’s thread from a sowing kit of hers along with a needle and sowed the ACE bandage together. It looks like a workout bra my wife would wear, but itty bitty. Yeah, I built a bra diffuser. Works great and shuts out the sound.

[Dreaming1]

I think they need to do a better job with pricing. At $80/mo that means I won't satisfy my $700 deductible until month 9. Then my total cost would be about $700 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = $732 for just the masks alone, per year. Granted, at least it would help me meet my deductible LOL. This was the first year I've met my deductible--and that's because of purchasing the actual cpap machine (and the associated sleep testing).

Bleep doesn’t have anything to do with insurance pricing. It would be the same for Medicare or BCBS or whoever. The insurance company sets a reimbursement amount for cpap billing codes and it’s the same for resmed, respironics, 3b or whatever. I’ve gotten comparison pricing between cpap suppliers before. I’m going to check into the insurance thing by calling Nationwide Monday and confirming for myself to. My jackass DME AeroFlow in Asheville keeps lying to me telling me it’s not FDA approved, after three calls, and they can’t carry it because of that. I called bullshit and told them the bleep website says they are and they said they just aren’t carrying it. I called Stuart again and asked him and he said they have a habit of saying the same thing to other customers who have called. Idiots are out there, but that’s a damn lame ass excuse when it’s easy to find on the web. Just makes them look stupid. I have BCBS and a $2K deductible that gets met every year...and will take my business somewhere else. Stuart said it was covered, when I talked to him. This just proves it if Nationwide gets in the game. The bad part for me is it won’t do anything for the product I just spent cash on. Lucky for me, I spent $32 a box online buying three months worth. Better than $40 anyway.

[djams]

I have isolated part of the extra noise. It is the area below my nostrils, basically the upper lip mustache area. Adhesive has a hard time stick stuck to skin with stubble. I always have a stubble. I will use an electric razor add shave off the moustache double tomorrow. I don't want to do it now or I would waste the dream ports. Exhale is still somewhat loud without a diffuser. Will post night 2 graphs later.

Isn't necessary to trim off all of that manly stubble. Just a small area at the top, where the ports stick. I have been able to keep my full beard and moustache. My trimmer has a small rounded attachment that's perfect for the task.

[Pugsy]

I just hate, hate, hate being lied to by a DME. That's pretty much a fast guarantee for me to take my business elsewhere.
It's one thing to be honest and just state "we just won't be stocking so and so mask" and a totally other thing to be saying "it's not FDA approved and thus insurance won't pay for it so we won't be stocking so and so". Which is a bold face lie but DMEs are good at the lying part. They have a right to stock or not stock anything they want but don't lie to me about why you are doing it.

The Bleep replacements ports use the same HCPCS billing code as any other single nasal interface out there.
When DMEs file insurance they don't ever list the brand....they simply list the HCPCS billing code and the units and their pie in the sky amount.

A7034: nasal interface (covers nose (nasal mask) or fits under nose (nasal pillows)) for use with PAP machine
A7032: replacement cushion for nasal mask.
A7033: replacement pillows for nasal pillows mask

Insurance won't care if you use the A7033 or A7032 for a box of ports and they normally will allow 2 per month.

If Nationwide is getting on the band wagon then someone there can see the writing on the wall that others fail to see.
Cash cow for repeat business for one thing since there is no way we can stretch the ports life like we can stretch cushions or pillows for months and months.
Also...think about it...if I need or want something else and want my insurance to pay (hey, after all we do pay for our insurance and want something back for all those premiums)...if I am getting my replacement ports from Nationwide and I need a new hose or water chamber or whatever...guess who I will order from??? I like one stop shopping.

Someone at Nationwide actually has some business sense. They will make money and that's the name of the game for all these places.

[katestyles]

I have isolated part of the extra noise. It is the area below my nostrils, basically the upper lip mustache area. Adhesive has a hard time stick stuck to skin with stubble. I always have a stubble. I will use an electric razor add shave off the moustache double tomorrow. I don't want to do it now or I would waste the dream ports. Exhale is still somewhat loud without a diffuser. Will post night 2 graphs later.

Isn't necessary to trim off all of that manly stubble. Just a small area at the top, where the ports stick. I have been able to keep my full beard and moustache. My trimmer has a small rounded attachment that's perfect for the task.

One of my best nights was when I had my bleep stuck so that the edge of the tape was at the crease of my nose and didn't bend round at all - yuou might try that first

[katestyles]

I just hate, hate, hate being lied to by a DME. That's pretty much a fast guarantee for me to take my business elsewhere.
It's one thing to be honest and just state "we just won't be stocking so and so mask" and a totally other thing to be saying "it's not FDA approved and thus insurance won't pay for it so we won't be stocking so and so". Which is a bold face lie but DMEs are good at the lying part. They have a right to stock or not stock anything they want but don't lie to me about why you are doing it.

The Bleep replacements ports use the same HCPCS billing code as any other single nasal interface out there.
When DMEs file insurance they don't ever list the brand....they simply list the HCPCS billing code and the units and their pie in the sky amount.

A7034: nasal interface (covers nose (nasal mask) or fits under nose (nasal pillows)) for use with PAP machine
A7032: replacement cushion for nasal mask.
A7033: replacement pillows for nasal pillows mask

Insurance won't care if you use the A7033 or A7032 for a box of ports and they normally will allow 2 per month.

If Nationwide is getting on the band wagon then someone there can see the writing on the wall that others fail to see.
Cash cow for repeat business for one thing since there is no way we can stretch the ports life like we can stretch cushions or pillows for months and months.
Also...think about it...if I need or want something else and want my insurance to pay (hey, after all we do pay for our insurance and want something back for all those premiums)...if I am getting my replacement ports from Nationwide and I need a new hose or water chamber or whatever...guess who I will order from??? I like one stop shopping.

Someone at Nationwide actually has some business sense. They will make money and that's the name of the game for all these places.

Shame that cpap.com doesn't take insurance, or we could all support our sponsor by buying bleeps there

[Pugsy]

Shame that cpap.com doesn't take insurance, or we could all support our sponsor by buying bleeps there

I hear you but I also understand why they don't.
Paying the extra salaries for people to file insurance...waiting for payment because insurance always takes its own sweet time...having to bill out co pays...so more salary time there...waiting for payment again.
Not to mention dealing with the thousands of differences in insurance and plans and people never understanding how their insurance really works. I wouldn't want to add that expense if I was the Goodmans. Now the DMEs that already have billing departments and staff and are familiar with it....different story for those folks.
If cpap.com were to open that can of worms you can kiss the fair competitive pricing good bye.
It would cost them money to provide that service and those employees would want a regular paycheck...and money coming in takes its own sweet time and the least little error in billing causes delays.

[katestyles]

In one of my fantasy moments, I did wonder how hard it would be to start up my own DME, for CPAP supplies only, and work with insurance. There has to be a way to make this work.......

I even started to look at the requirements to start a DME business in my state.....there were not many.