Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho
CPAP success usually means Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure devices use air to blow the obstructions out of the way. It usually requires a sleep lab test to get a CPAP prescribed. Sometimes, an at home test will be done first if your insurance company is cheap and needs pre-auth. Then, a sleep lab test is done to test out the effectiveness of a CPAP. Many go straight to the sleep lab and get a CPAP fitted during the night after observing OSA. There are many permutations of how the system works depending on insurance and local preferences.
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Years ago, before I had my surgeries for OSA, I used a CPAP. The insurance is often crazy! They wanted me to rent a machine (not state of the art) for a month at a time for a few months. While I can see that they don't want to pay for machines that might not help people, my doctor actually told me to just go online and buy one outright -- it was cheaper than one month of the rental, and it was a much better machine! My out of pocket cost was much less, and it was mine to keep. I just brought it with me to the lab to have it calibrated to my pressure needs. After I had my surgery, I didn't need it anymore, and I was able to give it to a friend who didn't have insurance at all.