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I'd rather go the other way and not require a prescription for a breathing machine. They're not habit forming and you won't OD on breathing.

jrockway 3y ago
I agree with this. The sleep apnea world is kind of a weird racket; in order to buy $150 worth of electronics, you need to pay a doctor $5000 to interpret the results of a sleep test. Insurance companies require this because they don't want to waste money on electronics if there is no disease that needs to be treated. But of course, the testing costs them more than the devices. (And the devices aren't $150, because they aren't marketed directly to consumers, they're marketed towards insurance companies. That means you get to jack up the price because people aren't using real money to buy them.) There was probably some argument for requiring a prescription when someone needed to adjust the pressure, but now that the machines do that themselves, they should probably just be available at Wal-Mart next to the reading glasses.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  > And the devices aren't $150, because they aren't marketed directly to consumers, they're marketed towards insurance companies Apropos of anything else, the newest CPAP machines are relatively sophisticated. They may not be worth the $1,100 they sell for, but definitely more than $150. $500, maybe. > The sleep apnea world is kind of a weird racket; in order to buy $150 worth of electronics, you need to pay a doctor $5000 to interpret the results of a sleep test. ENT too. I had a deviated septum. Most (all?) of my life. Finally did something about it when I was 40. Went to an ENT, who was great. "Yup, right nostril, 90% occluded". "Makes sense. So when do we schedule the surgery?" He sighs, and with a roll of his eyes (at the process, not me), "Welllll.... first I'm going to prescribe you these two nasal sprays so that you can come back in 30 days and tell me that, to our mutual shock, they didn't realign the cartilage in your nasal septum. At that point, insurance will approve the surgery and I can have it done within 3 days of getting that approval back." Thankfully, that went like clockwork. I saw him on day 30, and they had an approval and 34 days after seeing him for the first time, it was taken care of. But what a fuckshow.
  - jrockway 3y ago
    That sounds about right. I love your doctor though.

jrockway 3y ago

I agree with this. The sleep apnea world is kind of a weird racket; in order to buy $150 worth of electronics, you need to pay a doctor $5000 to interpret the results of a sleep test. Insurance companies require this because they don't want to waste money on electronics if there is no disease that needs to be treated. But of course, the testing costs them more than the devices. (And the devices aren't $150, because they aren't marketed directly to consumers, they're marketed towards insurance companies. That means you get to jack up the price because people aren't using real money to buy them.) There was probably some argument for requiring a prescription when someone needed to adjust the pressure, but now that the machines do that themselves, they should probably just be available at Wal-Mart next to the reading glasses.

FireBeyond 3y ago
> And the devices aren't $150, because they aren't marketed directly to consumers, they're marketed towards insurance companies Apropos of anything else, the newest CPAP machines are relatively sophisticated. They may not be worth the $1,100 they sell for, but definitely more than $150. $500, maybe. > The sleep apnea world is kind of a weird racket; in order to buy $150 worth of electronics, you need to pay a doctor $5000 to interpret the results of a sleep test. ENT too. I had a deviated septum. Most (all?) of my life. Finally did something about it when I was 40. Went to an ENT, who was great. "Yup, right nostril, 90% occluded". "Makes sense. So when do we schedule the surgery?" He sighs, and with a roll of his eyes (at the process, not me), "Welllll.... first I'm going to prescribe you these two nasal sprays so that you can come back in 30 days and tell me that, to our mutual shock, they didn't realign the cartilage in your nasal septum. At that point, insurance will approve the surgery and I can have it done within 3 days of getting that approval back." Thankfully, that went like clockwork. I saw him on day 30, and they had an approval and 34 days after seeing him for the first time, it was taken care of. But what a fuckshow.
- jrockway 3y ago
  That sounds about right. I love your doctor though.