I have had my last sleep apnea test and have have held off getting the cpap machine to help me breath. If any of you have bought your machine on the net I would like some feed back. The tech that gave the tests claims that I should only buy from the local suppliers in Kingman Az. He thimks only a fool would buy from a net supplier. I found some very good machines on the net for a little over $1200 and the tech said that I can expect to pay $3000 to $4000 at the local suppliers.He thinks the support would be very bad if I bought one over the net. This is RV related because I am in a trailer and off grid.
Carl

I can't comment about CPAP machines, but I've bought wheelchairs over the net, since the price was half what I payed in the local wheelchair store. It's the same exact product. I even gave the store a chance to come down in price, but they weren't even interested.

These medical places are just so used to dealing with insurance companies that they don't even want to talk to you about price.

I've had my machine for over a year. I was on medicare and my doctor ordered it from a local supplier. Medicare paid the vast majority of the cost - I was billed for about $140 over the first 13 months with no interest. I like the idea of having a local supplier since they have me set up on a schedule to order any supplies I might need such as masks, headgear or tubing and filters. Obviously, I don't FT so I don't have to worry about where I'm at to receive the shipment.

Hope this helps.

Ask yourself what the CEO of Carl, Inc. would do. Treat your wallet like the CEO of a small company would treat its bank account. If Local Supplier, Inc. wouldn't negotiate with Carl, Inc. then the CEO of Carl, Inc. would look elsewhere.
I did a search of "cpap" on both Amazon and Ebay and saw hundreds of items of supplies and machines. Plus links to internet businesses selling cpap supplies. These are small business people just the same as Local Supplier, Inc. but they have to compete by keeping their markup low.
Unfortunately I know nothing about the machines so you will have to check them out to see if they are what you want.

I purchased some of my medicine on the internet from Canada (with a prescription) for about $200 for a 90 day supply. Walmart wanted almost $600 for the same stuff. The CEO of Don, Inc. went with canadiandrugstore.com!!! I did that for several years until I started my insurance up again. I buy almost everything on line. I just bought some irrigation equipment online for slightly more than half what the local hardware store wanted. Why pay more for the same stuff?

Wayne, thanks a bunch for the info. One of my main questions has been, will medicare pay for anything. I have great union coverage and they pay for just about anything you could ever want. I tried on a $4500 hearing aid and they would pay for all of it and for both ears. I did not get one because I was shocked at how noisy the world has become. 45% hearing is just fine. I think I will go for the big local suplier because they will set it up and I will be sure that each item is just what I like. I was told that I would probably have to rent one for six mo. to a year and if it all worked well for me they would sell it to me, which the insu. would pay according to you. I should have plenty of money if I have to pay any part of it because Don made me a CEO, thanks Don. I would very much encourage anyone that has a hard time getting a good nights rest to be checked for sleep apnea. When I woke up after that first test, I thought I had died and went to heaven with an all new body. I felt better than I have in years. It has been so many years that I had forgot what it was like to wake up being really rested and not have the bad headache that I always woke up with.
Carl