Price Named Top Republican on Health Subcommittee

WASHINGTON—Rep. Tom Price, MD, R-Ga., has been named the
ranking Republican member on the Health, Employment, Labor and
Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor
Committee. Price, an orthopedic surgeon, will be the senior
Republican on the panel, one of the key committees tasked with
overseeing the nation’s health care reform effort.
 
Price has been a staunch supporter of the HME industry, introducing
the Home Oxygen Patient Protection (HOPP) Act earlier this year
with Rep. Health Shuler, D-N.C. The bill, H.R.
2373, would repeal the 36-month oxygen cap instituted under
2005’s Deficit Reduction Act. This marks the third time Price
has introduced the proposed legislation, which has garnered 56
cosponsors.
 
Price has also put his signature on a letter supporting a complete
overhaul of Medicare’s oxygen benefit. Sent to committees in
the House with jurisdiction over Medicare, the sign-on letter, authored by Reps. Mike Ross,
D-Ark., and Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., serves as a placeholder for a
forthcoming bill that would repeal the cap, remove oxygen from
competitive bidding and recognize the services involved in
providing home oxygen therapy. (For more, see “Ross, Meek
Send Oxygen Reform Sign-On Letter,” June 10.)
 
“As health care reform comes to the forefront of public
debate, I am eager to contribute my experience as a physician to a
robust discussion. Preserving the ability of American patients to
access the health care options, doctors, and plans they currently
enjoy is imperative to positive reform,” Price said in a
statement.
 
Earlier this year, Price told HomeCare that he champions
both repeal of the cap and long-term oxygen reform.
 
“The 36-month cap seriously jeopardizes the quality of care that
oxygen patients receive by cutting Medicare funding to oxygen
providers after the initial three-year coverage period,” Price
said. “Oxygen is essentially a prescription drug and should be
administered by a trained professional, but [providers] have little
incentive to do so, though they’re still required to, since there
is no funding in place after 36 months.”
 
Long-term reform of Medicare’s oxygen benefit is vital, he added.
“Patients need to know that they can rely on care that meets their
needs,” he said. “A system that allows bureaucrats to deny patients
essential care is one that needs permanent reform.”