I try to be fair and realistic when I write a review, especially when it's trending in my mind…read moretoward the negative. Medicine, doctors, health care, etc. have all become bureaucratized and impersonal (I've had several instances where I've called my personal doctor...and I like him...and have been told, "Make an appointment with a specialist or go to an Urgent Care center."). It's discouraging, but that's the reality these days. As noted in other reviews, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea not too long ago. The sleep center told me it was severe. The pulmonologist told me it was "mild to moderate" but he recommended using CPAP.
Ok.
I made the appointment to visit the AtHome facility in Morris Plains. Plenty of parking, Nice white building. Inside, I was told to have a seat in the waiting room. Nature was calling, however, and I asked if I could use the rest room. I was buzzed inside and directed down a long hallway. The "office" was basically a cubicle factory, and I felt my 1st instinctive misgivings. It looked as much a telemarketer call center as it did the offices of a health care provider. I did what I had to and returned to the waiting room. I didn't have to wait long.
A pleasant young woman directed me to a private room, unpacked the CPAP machine and proceeded to tell me, in detail, how to clean it. My thought was, "If I'm not being told how to use it, I guess it must be pretty easy to use."
That night, I got nervous and watched a Youtube video, where a young guy who looked like he should have been instructing skiers on the slopes instead of intimating that he had sleep apnea explained...how to clean the CPAP. Frustrated, I went to put on the mask, turned on the machine, and attempted to sleep. Amazingly I did fall asleep but woke up abruptly shortly thereafter as a wind tunnel gusted with a frenzied force up my nostrils. I tore off the mask, threw it aside, and tried to return to the land of Morpheus. Scr*w this!
I stayed with it, though, got used to it, and it seemed to function as advertised, although it never registered the correct amount of nightly usage time. This was a concern as if I didn't make the required nbr. of hours a night, insurance wasn't going to cover the cost. I was going to have to. I called several times, and was told, "The towers must be down, and that's why it's not registering correctly." I asked them to document this. I tried not to be suspicious, but it sure felt like I was being set up.
A few weeks later, I received a text msg that said, "You are running out of time to reach the minimum usage requirements set by your insurance." I replied, "The machine doesn't register the correct amount of time. I've brought this to AtHome's attention several times." No response, no follow up.
When I visited my pulmonologist, I explained the difficulty I was having, and I suggested maybe I should use some other CPAP provider. He said, "They're all pretty much the same...They don't care how they get paid, whether it's you or the insurance company, they just want to get paid." Yeah, Doc, I had kinda figured that out by then. Ultimately, it's all about the money. He reset my CPAP and sent a msg to AtHome, but it didn't make a difference.
I received a letter from AtHome asserting that I hadn't met the requirements, and I could either pay $1,000 or return the CPAP. I called the nbr of the woman who sent the letter in order to discuss it, left a voicemail msg, and never received the courtesy of a reply. I finally called the main number, spoke to a pleasant young cubicle wage slave, and said, "I'm not trying to dump this on you personally but I'm ready to take this thing and throw it against the f**king wall." He consulted with a higher-up, and they offered a discount on the CPAP that was less than the amount the letter had indicated. I agreed.
Do I feel like I got ripped off? Yeah. As my oldest friend remarked, when I described my troubles to him, "It sounds like a scam to me. Listen, my father had sleep apnea, never used a CPAP, and he lived till he was 91."
Why did I end up buying the CPAP for a price that was still exorbitantly, excessively expensive? Instead of just returning it? Because I accept that I have sleep apnea, "mild" or otherwise. At its best, the CPAP does allow me to wake up feeling somewhat better than I might have otherwise. Part of my effort to lose weight is so that I perhaps might lose the sleep apnea entirely and then be able to fulfill my "fantasy" of throwing the CPAP against the f**king wall.
I'm giving this 1 higher star than I'm really inclined to because I wouldn't want to deter those who have sleep apnea and need to have it addressed.
Bottom line, though-- Look into "Inspire Therapy" and save yourself the headache of dealing with the CPAP machine in general and AtHome in particular.
