Inogen portable oxygen concentrator

[Bernie Kopfer]

My mother in law has an Inogen and it is wonderful for when she leaves the house and can be used around the house too. Hospice provided a large continuous supply unit that she uses when she needs one inside and at night. But the portability of the Inogen is much appreciated.

[Dave Lehnert]

I'm on oxygen 7x24.
I have the Inogen 4 that you see on TV.

Medicare does NOT cover the cost of one about 99% of the time. That drives me nuts when I hear that on TV because it's not true.
It all depends on the medical supply house that rents you the oxygen equipment & supplies you with the portable equipment.
99% of the suppliers will give you bottled oxygen for a portable solution since that's cheaper for them than it is to buy an expensive portable unit.

Medicare will only pay X amount of dollars to the medical house for your monthly prescription (which is your in home concentrator & your portable solution), so, they (the provider) go with the cheapest thing for them.
Since the .gov is involved - you can't just simply pay more and pay the difference between a monthly lease of a portable and the less expensive bottled air. Trust me, I trie to go that way & you can't do it. Feel free to try with your supplier though.

The portable units are what are known as "pulse" units. They deliver the oxygen in small measured doses only when you breathe in - unlike the large concentrators or bottled air.

Figure your out of pocket expense to be around $4000 - all told.

- the supplied battery will give you about 15 minutes run time on setting 3. The most oxygen. A larger capacity battery will give you about 30 minutes run time on setting 3. Batteries run about $500. (yes that's $500 not a mistake)
On setting 1 - the lowest - the standard battery will deliver about an hour of run time. The larger battery about 2 hours.
My unit required me to have two large and one small battery for a 5 hour flight from Cleveland to Phoenix.
- a battery charger runs about $150. They supply a cord though for you to plug it in to a power outlet in a vehicle or a wall outlet, but, you'll need at least one other charger so you can charge multiple batteries.
- I'm on my third one. My first one was a DOA. It didn't run right out of the box. My 2nd one died after about 6 months. I had to pay a $50 fee to have it shipped to me under warranty. The will ship it free under warranty, but, you have to send them the broken one first & they have to check it out. If/when they determine it's covered, they will ship out the replacement. That whole process can take between 4 and 6 weeks.
- the air columns need replaced every so often & they quit without any warning. You need to pack a spare set since the unit will shut down without any warning. There is no way of telling when they need replaced. Mine lasted nearly two years - other people say theirs lasted only 6 months and others yet, where somewhere in the middle.

- the doctor is the one that determines what a person needs as far as oxygen goes. The amount of oxygen required to maintain an 89% or better blood oxygen level will determine how many liters are needed.
I'm on 3 liters right now & my portable will not supply enough - even on the highest setting.
I had to lose about 50 pounds so my breathing would improve enough for me to get the prescription to buy the Inogen 4. (the one on TV).
Speaking of which - the Inogen 4 - the one on TV - was the most advanced portable, with the longest battery run time you could buy for several years. There were other portable units, but, they were huge, they would only huge and had a very short battery life. Plus they only supplied half the oxygen the Inogen delivers.

If you want, I can PM you my cell number and I can answer any questions.
Sorry if this jumps around so much - this is a very complicated matter & there's a whole lot to consider.

Thanks for the information. Very helpful.
I was talking to someone at a birthday party tonight with the inogen and they told me the same thing about it not being covered