AAHomecare Calls OIG Report Deeply Flawed

Alexandria, Va.

The American Association for Homecare said recommendations in the Office of Inspector General report on oxygen “will put oxygen patients at even greater risk than they are already.”

According to AAHomecare, the study was “deeply flawed” and did not reflect the full range of services provided to patients or the actual costs in providing them.

Among the association’s other criticisms of the government study:

• The study only asked for cost information about oxygen concentrators instead of all types of oxygen modalities.
• Other costs, such as transportation, insurance, etc., were not considered because they are included in the fee schedule amounts that are based on historical reimbursement levels of nearly 20 years ago.
• The report does not consider average delivery cost per patient, average miles driven, average customer service time, bad debt, or Medicare-required documentation and compliance costs.
• The OIG gathered information only about new users of oxygen who began services in 2004 and who had no services previous to that year.
• The OIG report suggests that all patients rent oxygen for 36 months. Their own data shows that 78 percent never reach the 36th month.
• The 145 patients in the sample represent only about “one one-hundredth of 1 percent” of total beneficiaries using oxygen therapy at home.