Insurers snooping users of CPAP breathing machines

Didn't realize this was a thing until hearing today that my parents were visited yesterday by people that I'm assuming are either from their pharmacy or insurance. They were told that the machine is remotely monitored and that these their org noticed that my parent who uses the machine wasn't sleeping 4 hours straight at a time and that 4 hours straight is a requirement in order for the machine to qualify as "doing its job". As a result, they took this machine away from them even though it's a medical necessity for my parent.

The negligence alone is disgusting, but this is also next level absurdity/surveillance.

This happened to me as well. When I received my first CPAP machine there was a mechanical issue with one of the components. The replacement device got lost in the mail twice, and therefore I didn't meet my insurances 4-hour/night minimum required to keep the device, and I was now financially responsible for paying for the device if I wanted to keep it -- despite my doctor saying I need it.

I had to fight tooth and nail with my insurance, the CPAP supplier, and the third party that manages the monitoring of the device for my insurance. I was spending 5-10 hours per week for more than five months trying to get this issue resolved, including getting payments sent to creditors recalled. In hindsight, I should've hired a lawyer to deal with it.

It required my doctor to write a note and personally have a phone call with the insurance to explain the situation before they promised to give me a "second chance to reach the 4-hour/night requirements". Even after that I had to play middleman with multiple companies and become an advocate for myself to get the health care I needed despite already having top-tier insurance.

I was recently "awarded" a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset, which I already am in love with for the great help I'm getting from it: no more apnea and I also stopped snoring. Essentially it's the best gift my soon to be wife could receive:)

My situation is a bit different as thanks to public healthcare it's assigned to me without any insurance involved (I paid it with my taxes decades ago), which however doesn't mean I'd want my data to be read by others except my doctor. I therefore send my data over email to the doctor, and don't use any modem connection, app or proprietary software to read its data. The tendency to spy on patients is scary, although we should be prepared: spying on people using devices that connect to the Internet happens regularly in many other contexts, especially when money is involved, so why should we think medical devices would be any different? To me, the rule is: if it is closed and goes online, then it will spy on me.

For those interested, data can be read and analyzed easily using the (FOSS) software OSCAR: https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

I also took a look at EDFBrowser (also FOSS) which unfortunately doesn't support the type of EDF format used by that machine as it often complains about 8 or more bit chars in place of 7 bit ones, or something like that. https://www.teuniz.net/edfbrowser/

If I got anything out of this article it's that we need an 'Open' CPAP design.

I suspect it's the semiconductor shortage. There are big production backlogs on a lot of these kinds of machines (CPAP, Heart Monitors, etc.). I've noticed a lot of repossession of devices lately.

I recommend going directly to lawyers as these companies have real economic incentive to yank these back from your hands and put them into a more profitable patient. You won't stop that with "playing nice".

10 years ago, when I got my first CPAP, they didn't yet have (or hadn't widely released) devices that could upload data wirelessly. Instead, I was expected to bring the device in (or at least the flash card inside it) for regular appointments at the sleep clinic. At least in that particular situation it was made very clear that my insurance was paying for this device on the condition that I would adhere to the program laid out by my doctor. So none of this is particularly new.

I purchased my most recent model out of pocket in part because I didn't want to deal with that stress. That said, there is a genuine question of how you ensure that medical devices are available for people who need them (and are willing to actually use them). There's only a couple of brands of CPAPs and it seems likely that prices could be driven down and production increased, but at some point you're still talking about a relatively expensive device available in limited quantities with fairly high rates of noncompliance. (Partly because full compliance with CPAP usage is hard!)

Buy it out right from a retailer online with a prescription from your doc. Everything is easier when you own it and can choose where to buy parts. You may even save money in the long run.

I’ve seen insurance claims from pharmacists for $2500 on machines you can buy for $800 new.

@dang Instead of Bitdefender's blog, can we link to the story to which Bitdefender is referring?

https://www.propublica.org/article/you-snooze-you-lose-insur...