A woman wearing a nasal pillows CPAP mask, holding the tubing.

For vendors and clinic administrators

The CPAP replacement clock, and how a clinic bills it.

Q: How often should each CPAP part be replaced?

There is no single Canadian schedule: a part's service life and a funder's willingness to pay for a new one are published separately. norvelle ships one default per part, as wear-and-tear guidance rather than coverage: the machine at 5 years, the mask, water tub and headgear at 6 months, the frame and tubing at 3 months, and the cushion and filter at 1 month. The published funder schedules sit beside them: Ontario's Assistive Devices Program sets a designated minimum funding period of five years for a positive airway pressure system and does not cover replacement masks or headgear for CPAP machines, while the federal Non-Insured Health Benefits list recommends a CPAP purchase once every 5 years, an interface with headgear twice a year, standard tubing twice a year and 14 inlet filters a year, all of it subject to prior approval. A private plan sets its own, so the plan document decides.

Q: Where does norvelle get the dates on the equipment card?

From what the patient was supplied. Each slot takes the date of the most recent supply that counts, and filters and cushions add up instead, because they are bought in packs and stocked at home. A warranty mask exchange counts as a replacement and resets the mask.

Q: Can we run a different schedule from the shipped one?

Yes. The intervals are configuration, one number per part, so a clinic that follows a different wear-and-tear schedule runs on that instead. A slot with no interval set simply shows no due status rather than a number nobody chose.

Q: Does the clock mean a funder will pay for the part?

No, and the page is deliberate about it. A part being past its service life is a clinical and commercial fact; whether a programme pays is its own published rule. Ontario, for instance, funds a basic mask and headgear with the first system and does not fund replacements of either for a CPAP machine, so those lines sit with a private plan or the patient.

Q: How does the co-pay work on a plan invoice?

Each payer carries its coverage rule on the plan, so every invoice the plan raises is split the same way: the payer share worked out from the rule, the patient's portion as the remainder, and payment taken against that portion only. Payer shares on one invoice can never add up to more than the invoice total.

Q: What happens when a patient changes mask?

Edit the line on the plan. The new mask and size are what the next invoice bills, the equipment card picks up the new part on the next supply, and the old one stays in the history that produced the clock.

Eight parts, each on its own interval, read off one equipment card and turned into a resupply plan that bills on schedule with the co-pay applied.

Book a demo See the eight parts

Eight parts on one card Every interval sourced Plans of 3, 6 or 12 months

The clock

Eight parts, eight clocks, one card.

The interval beside each part is the default norvelle ships for that slot. It is wear-and-tear guidance for the part, not a statement that a funder will pay for a new one.

Machine, 5 years

The positive airway pressure device itself. The default is five years, which is also the period Ontario and the federal benefits list publish for a funded machine.

Mask, 6 months

The interface the patient wears, with its size and product code. A warranty exchange is a real replacement, so it resets this clock the same way a sale does.

Frame, 3 months

The frame the cushion clips into, replaced more often than the mask it belongs to because it is the part that stretches and cracks.

Cushion, 1 month

The seal against the face, and the part patients stock at home. Cushions accumulate: a pack bought while the last one is still running pushes the due date out instead of restarting it.

Filter, 1 month

The inlet filter. Filters accumulate too, so six two-packs in January read as twelve months of filter, not as one month from the last top-up.

Tubing, 3 months

Standard or heated tubing. One per patient at a time: the card dates it from the most recent supply.

Water tub, 6 months

The humidifier chamber. It is the part that drops off most funder lists, because it is usually counted as part of the machine at purchase.

Headgear, 6 months

The straps that hold the mask on, which a patient can need before the mask itself. Ontario funds headgear with the first system and does not fund a replacement for a CPAP machine.

Where the dates come from

Three different clocks, and only one of them is ours.

A part being past its service life and a programme agreeing to pay for a new one are separate questions, with separate answers.

norvelle's own defaults

One interval per slot ships with norvelle: machine 5 years, mask 6 months, frame 3 months, cushion 1 month, filter 1 month, tubing 3 months, water tub 6 months, headgear 6 months. They are wear-and-tear guidance for the part, they are configuration rather than policy, and a deployment can run a different schedule.

What Ontario publishes

The Assistive Devices Program sets a designated minimum funding period of five years for positive airway pressure systems. A funded system includes the device, a heated humidifier, a basic mask and headgear, a carrying case, 6 ft tubing and the caps and filters needed for setup. Replacement masks and headgear for CPAP machines are not covered.

What the federal benefits list publishes

Non-Insured Health Benefits publishes recommended replacement guidelines per item: a CPAP or auto CPAP purchase once every 5 years, an interface with headgear twice a year, standard tubing twice a year, inlet filters 14 a year and a chin strap twice a year. Prior approval is required for all respiratory equipment and supplies benefits.

The sale that starts the count

Each clock runs from what the patient was actually supplied, so the card reads the same way the invoice list does. A corrected or cancelled invoice does not count, and a warranty mask exchange does.

Stocked parts, counted as stock

Filters and cushions are bought in packs and kept at home, so their due date is where the last unit the patient owns runs out. Everything else is dated from its latest supply alone.

Your prices, your plan

What a replacement costs, what a funder pays and what the patient pays are your clinic's setup: the catalogue price, the payer's coverage rule and the remainder. The clock only says when the part is due.

From clock to plan

Turning the clock into a 3, 6 or 12 month plan.

A plan is a standing agreement for the parts that repeat. The clinician decides what goes on it; after that each renewal bills itself.

1

Pick the cycle

Renewals every 3, 6 or 12 months, started from the patient's chart, with an end date if you want one. Weekly, every two weeks and monthly cycles exist too for the parts that move faster.

2

Put the repeating parts on it

Cushions, filters, tubing, the water tub and the mask when it is due. Lines are editable, so swapping a mask size changes the next invoice rather than the whole plan.

3

Freeze the price

The plan's line prices are fixed onto the schedule when it is set up, so a catalogue change tomorrow does not quietly reprice a patient's standing plan.

4

Apply the co-pay on every invoice

Each payer sits on the plan with its coverage rule, a percentage of a named base or a fixed amount. norvelle works out the payer share on every invoice the plan raises, and the patient's portion is the remainder.

5

Take the patient's share

With the patient's consent, payment is taken from the card on file or, under a signed pre-authorized debit agreement, from their bank account. It charges their share, not the whole invoice.

6

Bill the payer separately

The payer's share can go out as its own numbered invoice, so programme and insurer debt ages apart from the patient's and lands in the right worklist.

Questions clinics ask about the clock.

How often should each CPAP part be replaced?

Where does norvelle get the dates on the equipment card?

Can we run a different schedule from the shipped one?

Does the clock mean a funder will pay for the part?

How does the co-pay work on a plan invoice?

What happens when a patient changes mask?

Sources

Captured 2026-10-18. Every funder interval on this page was read from that programme's own published page or manual on that date, and every other interval is named on the page as a norvelle default. Programme rules change: check the source before you rely on it.

Designated minimum funding period of 5 years for positive airway pressure systems, and the replacement grounds of a changed medical condition or wear beyond economic repair: Respiratory Equipment Policy and Administration Manual, policies 500 and 505, ontario.ca/files/2024-11/moh-adp-policy-and-administration-manual-respiratory-equipment-2024-11-08.pdf (July 2024).
What a funded positive airway pressure system includes, namely the device, a heated humidifier, a basic mask and headgear, a carrying case, 6 ft tubing and the caps and filters required for setup, and upgraded mask and headgear being outside that amount: the same manual, policies 225.01 and 610.
Replacement masks, headgear and similar items for CPAP machines not covered, and the 75% of the approved price paid to the business that sold the equipment with the client paying 25%: ontario.ca/page/respiratory-equipment-and-supplies (page updated 2026-02-18).
Recommended replacement guidelines of 1 CPAP or auto CPAP purchase every 5 years, 2 interfaces with headgear per year, 2 standard PAP tubings per year, 14 inlet filters per year and 2 chin straps per year, prior approval required for all respiratory equipment and supplies benefits, and the cleanable or reusable water chamber included in the purchase price: Indigenous Services Canada, 8.0 Respiratory equipment and supplies benefits list, sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1585323161648 (effective 2026-07-29).
norvelle's shipped intervals (machine 1,825 days, mask 180, frame 90, cushion 30, filter 30, tubing 90, water tub 180, headgear 180), the rule that filters and cushions accumulate while every other part is dated from its latest supply, and the note that these are wear-and-tear guidance rather than funder coverage: the platform's own equipment configuration, read 2026-10-18.

See the clock on a patient chart.

Eight parts, their due dates, and the resupply plan that bills them with the co-pay applied.

Book a demo See auto resupply