Insurer delays and denials hamper patients seeking at-home breathing machines

By TOM MURPHY
AP Health Writer

Doctors around the country say insurers are making it harder to get coverage for home ventilators that patients with serious illnesses need as their lungs fail. They say patients often must struggle first with less-effective — and cheaper — devices before some plans will pay for noninvasive ventilators. In other cases, insurers balk at paying for a second ventilator needed when patients transfer from their bed to a wheelchair. Insurers say they cover the devices, but that coverage depends on a number of factors. Some physicians believe insurers are making it harder because more of the devices are being prescribed.