Stakeholders Scramble for Oxygen Reimbursement Relief

ATLANTA — In a race against a swiftly ticking clock, HME
stakeholders were lobbying on two fronts last week to generate
congressional support for some sort of oxygen reimbursement
relief.

Reps. Mike Ross, D-Ark., and Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., circulated a
sign-on letter among their colleagues calling for reform of the oxygen benefit to be included in
the national health care reform package. The Ross-Meek letter also
urges elimination of the oxygen cap and the exemption of oxygen
from competitive bidding.

Both the American Association for Homecare and the Accredited Medical Equipment
Providers of America called on providers to encourage lawmakers
to sign the letter.

“I encourage all providers to contact your legislators and have
your oxygen patients contact them as well and ask them to …
sign on to the letter,” said Rob Brant, AMEPA president, in a
message to members. “This is a budget-neutral plan, which will
remove the oxygen cap and reimburse providers based on actual
patient usage, not just on the equipment in their home. Therefore,
it is a win for both patients and the Medicare program.”

As of Friday, nearly 50 legislators had agreed to sign on, said
Michael Reinemer, AAHomecare vice president, communications and
policy.

The letter will be sent to the key House committees overseeing
Medicare issues and health reform, Reinemer said, and will serve as
a “placeholder” for an oxygen overhaul bill that Ross and Meek are
expected to introduce shortly. AAHomecare had hoped to have the
legislation in hand sooner, but drafting the oxygen reform plan
has been slowed by an influx of health care proposals to the House
Office of Legislative Counsel, which must write all bills into
legislative language.

Advocates are hoping to get the bill attached to the health care
reform package, which is already on the move. AAHomecare said the
deadline for the sign-on — today — is being driven by
Ross, “who wants to make sure the oxygen message is delivered
before the health reform legislation is finalized.”

According to a tentative schedule, a draft of the health reform
language in the House could be released this week, then the bill
will be referred to three committees: Ways and Means, Education and
Labor and Energy and Commerce. Those committees could hold
subcommittee hearings as early as next week, followed by full
committee hearings the week of July 6 and floor consideration the
week of July 27.

House leaders have said they want to have a health care reform
bill passed by August.

On a parallel track, supporters continue a push for cosponsors
on the Home Oxygen Patient Protection (HOPP) Act.

“Keep contacting your representative to get more support [for
H.R. 2373],” urged VGM, the Waterloo, Iowa-based HME services
group. That bill, introduced last month by Reps. Tom Price, R-Ga.,
and Heath Shuler, D-N.C., would repeal Medicare’s 36-month oxygen
rental cap.

“It is important that we get at least 218 supporters of the
bill,” VGM said
on its Web site, a point echoed by the National Association of
Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers in an email. “This
would allow legislation to move past the committees to which the
bill was referred and onto the House floor.”

As of Friday, the bill had garnered 49 cosponsors.

View the text of H.R. 2373 as a PDF.

View the Ross-Meek letter on AAHomecare’s Web site.