WASINGTON—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) called on home medical equipment (HME) suppliers—particularly oxygen suppliers and respiratory care stakeholders—to voice their support for the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) Act of 2025.
The bipartisan bill aims to overhaul Medicare payments for supplemental oxygen, improving patient access to equipment like liquid oxygen and securing reimbursement for respiratory therapist services. It would also remove oxygen from Medicare competitive bidding.
The SOAR Act uses price discovery established through competitive bidding while right-sizing the rates for liquid oxygen. It also provides targeted policies to strengthen fraud and abuse protection, including a prescriber template to support e-prescribing and enhanced beneficiary protection to stop illegitimate entities from fraudulently billing Medicare.
"Oxygen suppliers and respiratory care stakeholders can support an active lobbying effort on Capitol Hill for the SOAR Act by asking your senators and representatives to sign on as co-sponsors," the organization said in a released statement. "Increasing co-sponsor support will bolster the chances for the Senate and House SOAR Act measures to gain support for committee action and inclusion in a larger legislative package."
AAHomecare said while any additional co-sponsors are welcome, adding more House Republicans as well as senators from either political party would be especially helpful. It added input from legislators who are members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee or the Senate Finance Committee would also be impactful.