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Breathe Easy
Feb. 3rd, 2026 09:07 pmOver the weekend, my CPAP machine was sitting on the nightstand next to my bed at the hotel. This meant that I noticed the message on the screen letting me know that the machine had reached the end of its motor life and that it was time to get a new one. A bit of research told me that this doesn't mean that the machine will imminently shut down -- but it does mean that we are past the rated life for the CPAP machine.
I am very fond of having a working CPAP machine, so I set out to get a new one. This turned out to be more difficult than it should have been, as I called my health insurance. First, I would need to get a prescription from a doctor in the network and *then* they would get me a machine on a rent-to-own basis, which meant that I would be paying the maximum possible price for it, because rent-to-own is a strategy that you use when someone might not use the CPAP machine because they just can't adapt to it.
I've been on a CPAP machine for 30 plus years. I don't think there's any question of my not "adapting" to it.
Oh, and the clinic said they would want me to come in for an appointment and take another sleep study, because I obviously needed one since I hadn't talked to them for the annual follow-up for some years since the annual follow-up consisted of "Still using the machine?" "Yes." "That will be some hundreds of dollars for the consult."
CPAP.com has been advertising an excellent deal on the AirSense 11 (one generation newer than the machine that I have and with more features than my particular older model which was a stripped configuration). $699 for the machine and a ResMed mask. I don't use a ResMed mask, but Gretchen does, so I ordered the machine for me and the mask for her. Then I signed up for their $35 prescription service, where I had a telemedicine call with a PA who went over my chart, passed it along to the doctor, and they wrote me a prescription for a new CPAP, which was what I needed in the first place, since I have had sleep apnea for *more than thirty years* and that seems unlikely to be changing any time soon.
The new CPAP shipped today, so I should see it soon.
All of this was a good bit cheaper than going through my health insurance, even if it did not help meet my deductibles for the year.
And it does help explain why health insurance is so expensive.
I am very fond of having a working CPAP machine, so I set out to get a new one. This turned out to be more difficult than it should have been, as I called my health insurance. First, I would need to get a prescription from a doctor in the network and *then* they would get me a machine on a rent-to-own basis, which meant that I would be paying the maximum possible price for it, because rent-to-own is a strategy that you use when someone might not use the CPAP machine because they just can't adapt to it.
I've been on a CPAP machine for 30 plus years. I don't think there's any question of my not "adapting" to it.
Oh, and the clinic said they would want me to come in for an appointment and take another sleep study, because I obviously needed one since I hadn't talked to them for the annual follow-up for some years since the annual follow-up consisted of "Still using the machine?" "Yes." "That will be some hundreds of dollars for the consult."
CPAP.com has been advertising an excellent deal on the AirSense 11 (one generation newer than the machine that I have and with more features than my particular older model which was a stripped configuration). $699 for the machine and a ResMed mask. I don't use a ResMed mask, but Gretchen does, so I ordered the machine for me and the mask for her. Then I signed up for their $35 prescription service, where I had a telemedicine call with a PA who went over my chart, passed it along to the doctor, and they wrote me a prescription for a new CPAP, which was what I needed in the first place, since I have had sleep apnea for *more than thirty years* and that seems unlikely to be changing any time soon.
The new CPAP shipped today, so I should see it soon.
All of this was a good bit cheaper than going through my health insurance, even if it did not help meet my deductibles for the year.
And it does help explain why health insurance is so expensive.