Apria Healthcare Cpap machine Birmingham Alabama

I have used a cpap since 1998. Cpap's are a device to assist breathing for people with sleep apnea. In September, 2006, US Airways managed to destroy my old machine and my nightmare began.

CPAP machines are not supposed to be sold without a prescription. My insurance carrier had changed many times since my original diagnosis and prescription. I was living in Sacramento at the time and my old doctor in Phoenix was not at all cooperative about forwarding my medical records. So we had to do another sleep study to prove that I have sleep apnea and need the cpap.

Most people who go into a sleep study have never used a cpap. I, on the other hand, am 100 percent dependent on one after 8 years of use. The first part of the sleep study measures how you sleep without the cpap. I can not sleep without one so I basically just layed there staring at the ceiling. Because they could not establish a base line for non-cpap sleep, they refused to proceed to step two, which is to measure sleep with a cpap. So I had to return to my doctor and get him to order the sleep lab to do just part two. I then had to go through a second session in the sleep lab. The results stated the obvious: I have sleep apnea. Eventually the insurance carrier allowed the doctor to prescribe a new cpap and I did get a new machine.

Then the bills started rolling in. Even though my doctor was an in-network provider, few of the charges at the hospital's sleep lab were covered. And, of course, I had to pay for two sleep studies. I had to pay part of the charges for the new cpap, too. By the time it was all over I had spent over $3000.

The process of getting the new machine took almost 6 months from start to finish. I was lucky that my brother-in-law had a machine he does not use, but it was set for far less pressure than I need.

Consider your self lucky. I would gladly swap expenses with you.