Maybe a month or so. Once the doctor called in the prescription, we got initial contact from the vest company, who warned us that usually it's denied by insurance initially and they'd request more info. Sure enough, the vest company called with questions from BCBS regarding hospitalizations, tobi, pseudomonas. The vest was shiipped but there were still questions regarding how much we'd have to pay. I had friends who had to lease it for a year, others who had to pay 20% copay. Throughout the time we'd get calls from the vest company asking # of hours on the machine. I believe after about 6 months, we got a letter indicating we were responsible for a couple hundred $ out of pocket and it was ours.