Hi, everyone
I've been visiting this forum for a little while now and I have learned so much from reading posts. It's awesome how informative this community is because there's not a lot of support and knowledge available to me just at the unit level. I tried searching to see if anyone had a question similar to mine but I didn't see anything. Forgive me if I posted in the wrong section.
I am currently undergoing the med board process at Fort Hood, Texas, and I'm waiting for ratings; have been for about 30-something days now. At the same time I have been trying to get my sleep problems diagnosed, but I did not include that in my initial claim because my provider and I were just at the beginning stages of figuring it out. This week I was diagnosed with Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea and prescribed a CPAP. I just received my call to schedule the machine pickup, but they told me that Tricare doesn't buy the machines anymore, they rent them for 13-15months and then the machine belongs to you. Then they started giving me quotes for monthly payments without Tricare benefits.
This leads to my question: what happens with the machine and the payments when my med board completes and I leave the Army? I certainly hope that I won't be around for 13 months as Active Duty Tricare pays off the CPAP machine. I called Tricare Referrals and Tricare Claims about it and they couldn't help me. It was too late for me to call the Sleep Clinic and ask them, but I will call them tomorrow and also try and get a hold of the VA rep for my med board process. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation or guidance on what kind of office I need to call to get an answer? Will I just put this in the claim at the end of my IDES process and it will all work out?
Thanks for taking time to read all that.
tl;dr: Tricare rents (leases?) CPAP's instead of buying them now; what happens to my machine when I'm kicked out of the Army?
I've been visiting this forum for a little while now and I have learned so much from reading posts. It's awesome how informative this community is because there's not a lot of support and knowledge available to me just at the unit level. I tried searching to see if anyone had a question similar to mine but I didn't see anything. Forgive me if I posted in the wrong section.
I am currently undergoing the med board process at Fort Hood, Texas, and I'm waiting for ratings; have been for about 30-something days now. At the same time I have been trying to get my sleep problems diagnosed, but I did not include that in my initial claim because my provider and I were just at the beginning stages of figuring it out. This week I was diagnosed with Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea and prescribed a CPAP. I just received my call to schedule the machine pickup, but they told me that Tricare doesn't buy the machines anymore, they rent them for 13-15months and then the machine belongs to you. Then they started giving me quotes for monthly payments without Tricare benefits.
This leads to my question: what happens with the machine and the payments when my med board completes and I leave the Army? I certainly hope that I won't be around for 13 months as Active Duty Tricare pays off the CPAP machine. I called Tricare Referrals and Tricare Claims about it and they couldn't help me. It was too late for me to call the Sleep Clinic and ask them, but I will call them tomorrow and also try and get a hold of the VA rep for my med board process. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation or guidance on what kind of office I need to call to get an answer? Will I just put this in the claim at the end of my IDES process and it will all work out?
Thanks for taking time to read all that.
tl;dr: Tricare rents (leases?) CPAP's instead of buying them now; what happens to my machine when I'm kicked out of the Army?
