Michigan Re-Examines Proposed Oxygen Cuts

Lansing, Mich.

The Michigan HME association has successfully postponed a potentially devastating Medicaid cut for home oxygen, sources said, as providers wait for a new proposal from the state health agency.

At the end of last year, Michigan Medicaid proposed a cut to oxygen concentrator reimbursement of almost 50 percent. But state officials have since put the proposal on hold as they await new fees for Medicare oxygen pricing, which, at press time, CMS had yet to release. The state bases much of its Medicaid fees on the Medicare fee schedule.

“I cannot say enough good things about Michigan Medicaid,” said Steve Slater, general manager at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Airway Oxygen and president of the Michigan Home Health Association (MHHA), which has both home health and HME membership. “[The agency] realized they didn’t have the whole picture,” he said, adding that officials gave the association the chance to explain respiratory therapies, accreditation and the intricacies behind quality service.

“The state of Michigan, like many states, is in a huge budget deficit,” Slater explained. “Medicaid makes up 28 percent of the total state budget, so they were looking for ways to save some money.”