How a device maker inundated pain patients with unwanted batteries and surprise bills Lizzy Lawrence By Lizzy Lawrence June 4, 2024

https://www.statnews.com/2024/06/04/zynex-medical-pain-patient-tens-unit-batteries-electrodes-bills/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_fwEG6CPqQimX4a06IDr40Eq7_YGWTk2UN0owhIwhn7BRuURYu4MrdeuRYMEMTM9jdnKcnryEAnuObtrmM0Hq4zEvfow&_hsmi=309996679&utm_content=309996679&utm_source=hs_email When Michelle Bean bought a basic pain management device in 2020, the company, Zynex Medical, assured her that the supplies would be covered by her insurance company. Batteries and electrode pads arrived at her home every month for two years, taking up more and more space in her closet, unused. Until one day, Zynex informed her that the insurer had never paid. Those batteries were going to cost her almost $1,000. It’s a maneuver reminiscent of the classic “razor blade” business model, with a company deriving most of its revenue from a product’s supplies as opposed to the product itself. The batteries ostensibly keep the device running, but the regular shipments also allowed Zynex to bill insurers for thousands of dollars more than it otherwise could. The practice is rampant in health care, STAT’s Lizzy Lawrence writes, but rarely impacts insurers’ bottom lines enough to put companies under regulatory or legal scrutiny. As a result, patients like Bean are left to fend for themselves. Read more.