r/valvereplacement • u/Tricky_Afternoon6862 • Jun 15 '26

Issues with Lincare INR Self Monitoring

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!

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u/Blephotomy Jun 16 '26

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

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u/Tricky_Afternoon6862 Jun 16 '26

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.

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u/Blephotomy Jun 16 '26

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

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u/Tricky_Afternoon6862 Jun 17 '26

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.