Help with nebulizer ordering

Hi there and welcome, glad the nebulizing is going well for you. That's an important step.
It sounds like your nebulizer & supplies are arranged through Medicare or some other insurance? I think most of us here end up buying our own nebulizer. It seems that the equipment that can come if covered through Medicare may be adequate but once you realize you are doing this 1-2x/day, probably for a very long time, the decision to upgrade may be on the table. There are lots of threads here about preferred nebulizers if you do a search. With some online vendors you need to have a prescription and with others you do not. I ended up with the Pari ProNeb Max machine which seems quite fine. I keep the original machine my pharmacist got for me (no-name brand) as a backup.
Same with saline. It seems it is very difficult to get saline for our nebulizers covered by Medicare. When I was first prescribed nebulizing, 3% saline was covered but when I wanted to go to 7% it wasn't. Some of us find the best solution is using GoodRX (you can find it online). You will need your doctor to put in a prescription for the very precise information GoodRX provides. My own best price has been $22 with GoodRX at Walgreens (or Duane Reade here in NYC) for a 60-vial supply. Once you have GoodRX in your patient record it is applied automatically.
Some folks here get their saline on Amazon which I did for some time too. That varies in price and availability.
Also sounds like maybe your doctor's office sent you to a medical supply manager? It sounds like the arrangement for my sleep apnea CPAP machine and supplies. I haven't heard of that before for handling nebulizing. But you could compare prices and options and decide what works best.
I also couldn't make heads or tails of the directions for cleaning the nebulizing equipment that came with my original machine. There are lots of threads here about that as well, including recent research reported by Dr. Honda (do a search and it will come up).
It is all overwhelming at first but it sounds like you have a good beginning and will do fine. You will find lots of help here.

Equipment and Supplies

https://www.saveritemedical.com (Ombra compressor, AeroEclipse nebulizer or Sprint LC, Aerobika device)
Here's a video by one of our members showing how it all works together: ( bronchesaurus)

https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/short-video-on-nebbing-saline

@rachel05753 @lvnl did a great job of answering your questions. I would just add that you can go online to saveritemedical.com or justnebulizers.com to get an idea of the different types of nebulizers and costs. I have used both and had no problems. I use the Ombra compressor with the Aeroclipse nebulizer cup and tubing. I rinse all parts (except tubing) after every use and each evening I rinse, soak for 10 minutes in warm water with 3 drops of clear dw detergent, rinse and put everything in the baby bottle sterilizer set to auto so it will sterilize and dry the parts. An alternative to the sterilizer would be to boil for 5 minutes in distilled water. The nebulizer cups are recommended to replace after 6 months and there seems to be various opinions on the tubing since the tubing can't be cleaned or sterilized. I replace every 3 months. Best of luck!

@mjb24 thank you for sharing your cleaning routine. I have been doing something similar so it’s great to hear that I’m on the right track! One of the things that I don’t like about my current nebulizer is that I can’t boil or sanitize the parts (of course I had to test it out for myself to confirm this - guess it’s good that they sent me three sets of supplies, lol!) So I have been doing the soapy water and then dry in the bottle sterilizer. Hopefully that is good enough, I also soak in rubbing alcohol once a week.

@rachel05753 😂 I did the same when I first started nebulizing and used the equipment that was issued through my insurance. Found out quick, that it could not be boiled. You could just get the nebulizer cups and continue to use the compressor they sent, if it works ok for you. With MAC, I would not want to bypass the sterilization process.

I had to rent my Nebulizer for a year and then I owned it. Check on this. Every medical supply co is different. I use Lincare.

@scoop thanks so much! I just placed an order at Saverite, it was super easy!

@rachel05753 if you Google whether Medicare Covers Cost of Nebulizer Machines and Medications, it will give you info. I have Medicare B & AARP United Health Care as Supplemental Insurance. I have medicare D for my meds. I got my Pari Pro Neb Max from Apria in 7/2026. I requested my Pulmonologist to write Rx for "Pari Pro Neb Max" and fax it to Apria. Apria sent me "Drive Power Neb". I called Apria & demanded them to send me Pari as my doctor ordered. Apria exchanged Drive with Pari. For 7% Sodium Chloride, I finally started to getting it from Sun Pharmacy in San Jose for free since September 11, 2026. It is covered under medicare B DME. Medicare B pays 80% of cost as DME & United Healthcare pays 20%. Now, I am trying to get free supply of Sterile water for injection to mix Colistin. So far, I had no luck. Medicare B DME denied providing it when Sun Pharmacy submitted claim. I know that one of member at NTMir gets hers free from John's Hopkins outpatient pharmacy. Perhaps, Sun Pharmacy didn't know how to properly submit claim? If anyone had luck getting it for free, Please advise me. Thanks, Bong Kim

Want to get 7% Sodium Chloride covered by Medicare B under DME claim? Please go to Medicare Web site.
https://www.medicare.gov/medical-equipment-suppliers/results
1) Click Provider & Services
2) Click 'Find equip & Suppliers"
3) Type in your Zip Code
4) Click Equipment
5) Scroll down to "Browse equip & Suppliers"
6) Click Nebulizer drugs, Nebulizers, Respiratory Assistive Devices( All 3 )
7) Filter by, choose distance.
8) Find pharmacy that covers all 3 items.
9) call Pharmacy to confirm whether they are able to bill Medicare B DME
10) have your doctor with diagnosis "Bronchiectasis" on Sodium Chloride Rx.
Good Luck, Bong Kim

@bkim408 I have tried various pharmacies to get my sodium chloride paid for by Medicare DME but keep getting told it’s only covered if it’s needed to mix with another med not as a stand alone treatment that follows albuterol