Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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."