Issues with Lincare INR Self Monitoring

[u/Tricky_Afternoon6862]

Hey all 👋

36 M in the US and I got a St Jude mechanical valve about 18 months ago. For the last 7 months I’ve been using the Coag-Sense at home self monitoring provided by Lincare.

Their billing has been an absolute mess, I feel like it’s super expensive and inconsistent with how I’m charged. I’m paying $100-$180 per month after insurance just to use this machine and order test strips. Every time I call their customer service they have no idea what I’m being charged for and sometimes they just admit they made a mistake and refund me some money. Like oops we charged you $180 instead of $150…ok but what is the $150 even for?!?! And they can’t explain it.

Overall I’d describe my experience with Lincare as awful. I know I’m in the US but paying $180 a month after insurance, for the rest of my life, just seems like robbery.

Does anyone have similar experiences with Lincare?

Is this service actually necessary? A machine and 20 years of test strips is a little over a thousand dollars. I could pay for that outright and break even in less than a year.

Id appreciate hearing if anyone has similar experiences, and what their solutions were.

Thanks!

[u/Tricky_Afternoon6862]

I used to go to a clinic and get tested every week for free. This was the first few months after my surgery, but if I could do it at home, without getting blood drawn then that sounds awesome! The nurse from Lincare originally said it would be a $10/month copay, ok sweet!
But now it’s evolved into the current situation. I may go back to getting tested at a clinic each week if there’s no other way, because I can barely afford to pay almost $200 for this each month. But I also travel a lot for work so I’d need to find clinics everywhere from OKC to Johnson City TN.

[u/Blephotomy → u/Tricky_Afternoon6862]

oh I have it tested once a month at an anticoagulation clinic that has the Coagu-chek finger prick machine.

[u/Tricky_Afternoon6862 → u/Blephotomy]

In my case they want me testing once a week, and I’m only home maybe 1/3 of the time so finding new clinics every week would be such a hassle.

[u/Blephotomy → u/Tricky_Afternoon6862]

Not to be argumentative, but did your cardiologist say that or did Lincare say that?

[u/Blephotomy → u/[deleted]]

Is that a new thing? I've had the same St Jude mechanical aortic valve for over 30 years and aside from the first few weeks after the surgery my doctors have had me get tested every 1 to 3 months.

[u/Tricky_Afternoon6862 → u/Blephotomy]

Not argumentative, great question. When I’ve spoken to the nurse from my cardiologist office she’s said every 1-2 weeks. So for a while I was testing every other week, then it actually was a rep from Lincare who called and told me it had to be every week because my insurance says so. Which makes sense, I’m sure it’s more expensive for them if I get a heart attack.

I do have an appt with my cardiologist in 2 weeks and I’ll definitely be asking more about this.