Marten Transport Sleep Apnea scam

I dont work for marten but saw this topic when i was looking into the company

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and I had it for a few years before finally getting diagnosed and treated after my wife forced me to do it since she was tired of hitting me in the night to breath again and was scared about it. I can see when a company wants to take action since there are a ton of people who dont even know they have it and they are always tired. Your neck size and BMI are only a factor, there are some skinny sticks that have apnea as well and they have to do more than just measure and weigh you. I had to do an overnight test at a sleep clinic where I was monitored for how many episodes I have in a hour, because I was on medi-cal at the time they required me to have a certain amount before they could go further in the study and hook me up to a machine....I went over double within the first hour. I tell you what I woke up for the first time ever in my life with energy and my wife said I was a new person. Took me 2 months to finally get a machine because of medi-cal and clinic doctors and I have been using it since. When I became a truck driver I made sure to have an inverter in my truck dedicated for it.

Some of the symptoms include a lot but some that I can remember are
headaches often
snoring
always tired
fall asleep at random times
gasping in the night
unable to lose weight


there are others but my brain is tired right now but I had all those symptoms. Also after getting treated I have been dropping at a steady rate when I couldnt before even with exercise and eating healthy and now im more on a trucker diet and still losing. Im also not falling asleep randomly and dozing off while driving when I was quite often before treatment. Before I could doze during a hour drive, now I drive a truck and sometimes go 6 hours or so without a break and no tiredness.

As for the cost the study is NOT $1500+, thats a bit high....
the machine on the other hand can be over $1500 not $700
My machine is over $3000 and im screwed if I lose insurance who is making the $200 month payments.

I do recommend people to get tested if they even think they might have it and if the company is paying for it then why not? I wish my company paid for my stuff. Apnea can kill, it increases heart attack, strokes and all kinds of junk.

Also did you ever have an actual sleep study or just the measuring junk? They wont know if you have or not have it either way if no actual study was done, I also can read my machine each day to see how many times it made me breath.

 

Everyone I know that has been "tested" for SA has come back positive in some form or another. Does having a diagnosis and getting assistance from a cpap or some other device help? Absolutely. But I can't help the feeling that this is fast becoming the newest hot "disorder" in the field of healthcare. It almost appears the $$$ is the key issue behind these tests and for those required to take them.

Where I live there are a lot of facilities to conduct these tests and more setting up business all the time. I feel the insurance industry, who tells trucking companies who they can and cannot hire, has found another asset in their arsenal to control these companies.

I have a cpap, been using it for three years now. Used it when I was OTR for the short time I was out. It helps, a lot. But there is a learning curve you have to go through to get it set up correctly, for you. Having a "tech" hand you a machine and send you on your way is not the way to gain confidence in the product or service being provided.

Should companies require these tests as a condition of employment? I suspect they can, for now. But I see this attitude working against them in the long run. Time will tell.

 

Excellent post, especially the first paragraph.

From me, a nearly 6-year CPAP user and one who is very grateful for a good original provider and shares your skepticism of those companies who are using this as a cash cow.

 

I have had severe sleep apnea,to the point where I would fall asleep if I was just sitting,doing nothing.I use my Cpap everynight and if your on the road and DOT pulls you in,and they happen to see a restriction on your med.card,they can ask to download your memory card,and If your not in compliance they can deadline you where you stand....But being forced into doing something you don`t want is BS,I would`ve told them to eff off

 

yeah I used to fall asleep randomly all day everyday before I ever got tested and got my machine. There were countless times I would even be dozing off while driving my personal car back and forth to work a hour each way. Now with my machine im driving up to 11 hours a day and never doze at all, they really are a life saver if you have apnea and there are more people out there who have it and in denial.

 

Most insurances (mine for example) will rent the machine for you up until a certain point. After that it's considered "bought" & I didn't make any more co-payments....kinda like a lease purchase deal.. And I have Bi-Pap which is considerably more expensive that a c-pap. And you're right, when you consider the effects on untreated apnea (like DEATH), there's really no reason not to get tested/treated.

 

OP thought he was smarter than the machine and wore it for four hours awake. Lol

 

Yet another reason not to work for [insert Bottom Feeder Inc here].