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Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on April 17, 2009 at 7:19pm

I agree it is a shame that someone's job maybe at stake due to sleep apnea. I wonder how many do NOT get tested due to their jobs. My hubby drives a semi with a lowboy (he hauls oversize loads) and there would be consequences to his job if he was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I am sure lots of others such as pilots, etc. are at risk. Yet, I would much rather have someone that is being treated properly on the road or in the air, than have someone not risk their job and thus refuse to get diagnosed and are a menace to everyone around them.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel on April 17, 2009 at 9:13pm

I'm afraid I have to sort of agree with the article, because that very scenario happened to me. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea while I was working for a small startup and received my CPAP through my company's health insurance. The CPAP worked so well for me that I thought of myself as healthier than ever. When I was laid off in 2001, I didn't bother with COBRA because it was so expensive that I knew I could find a much cheaper individual policy. Imagine my surprise when I found out that I was considered uninsurable due to a pre-existing condition. I would argue with each insurance company that if I hadn't bothered with the sleep test and didn't use a CPAP, they would gladly offer me a policy even though I would be at much higher risk for heart attack or stroke. Every insurer had the same response - "That may be true, but we have no guarantee that you will actually use your CPAP." I was flabbergasted, and wound up going bare-back (no health insurance at all) for 14 months until I found another job and was insured under a group policy.

The moral of my story is that if you are laid off and you are using CPAP, make sure you go COBRA and continue your group policy. Part of Obama's stimulus plan provides for the government covering 65% of COBRA costs for up to nine months, so it shouldn't be a the terrible economic burden that it used to be.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on April 18, 2009 at 2:12am

i wonder what they would have said if you had presented them with detailed compliance and efficacy data reports for a period of months/years. in that case, they would not have a basis for saying you're not using it, and using it properly. they should give you the policy at a decent price on those facts. whether that would actually happen is a different matter.

Daniel Levy said:

I'm afraid I have to sort of agree with the article, because that very scenario happened to me. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea while I was working for a small startup and received my CPAP through my company's health insurance. The CPAP worked so well for me that I thought of myself as healthier than ever. When I was laid off in 2001, I didn't bother with COBRA because it was so expensive that I knew I could find a much cheaper individual policy. Imagine my surprise when I found out that I was considered uninsurable due to a pre-existing condition. I would argue with each insurance company that if I hadn't bothered with the sleep test and didn't use a CPAP, they would gladly offer me a policy even though I would be at much higher risk for heart attack or stroke. Every insurer had the same response - "That may be true, but we have no guarantee that you will actually use your CPAP." I was flabbergasted, and wound up going bare-back (no health insurance at all) for 14 months until I found another job and was insured under a group policy.

The moral of my story is that if you are laid off and you are using CPAP, make sure you go COBRA and continue your group policy. Part of Obama's stimulus plan provides for the government covering 65% of COBRA costs for up to nine months, so it shouldn't be a the terrible economic burden that it used to be.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel on April 18, 2009 at 1:43pm

Back then, I had received my CPAP from a National DME that has five letters in its name. It was a REMstar LX with no data collecting capabilites. It was clearly used before they gave it to me. They handed it to me along with a Goldseal mask (anyone else remember that torture device?) and wished me good luck. I was so clueless at the time, I was unaware that there were other options, or that there was more than one type of mask out there.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on April 18, 2009 at 2:11pm

Yep, that's exactly how I came into the world of CPAP-sleep apnea, too. I got the lowest end, non-data capable model CPAP drop-shipped from a national DME with five letters in its name, and the manufacturers DVD as my only source of education. When it felt uncomfortable after a couple of days, i stopped using it and sort of gave up on treating my sleep apnea. . . until a friend told me about options/ other types of machines and cpap masks out there, and i advocated for myself with my physician to get them.

Daniel Levy said:

Back then, I had received my CPAP from a National DME that has five letters in its name. It was a REMstar LX with no data collecting capabilites. It was clearly used before they gave it to me. They handed it to me along with a Goldseal mask (anyone else remember that torture device?) and wished me good luck. I was so clueless at the time, I was unaware that there were other options, or that there was more than one type of mask out there.

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