Finance Committee Eyes Oxygen in Revenue Hunt

ARLINGTON, Va.—According to an alert from the American
Association for Homecare, the Senate Finance Committee—which
has jurisdiction over Medicare—is considering further cuts to
oxygen as a way to pay for health care reform.

This year alone, the association pointed out, home oxygen
providers have absorbed a 27 percent cut resulting from the
combined 36-month payment cap and the 9.5 percent DME cut, both of
which took effect Jan. 1.

“The home oxygen benefit has already been cut to the bone.
Additional cuts to oxygen will harm access to care for the millions
of Americans who require medical oxygen therapy at home,”
AAHomecare said.

This morning, a
Wall Street Journal article detailed some effects of the
36-month cap, noting that providers are required to continue
providing home oxygen services to patients two years past the cap
“at a sharply reduced payment rate.”

“They’re trying to have these people that furnish me oxygen do all
this running out here and not get any reimbursement,” an
81-year-old patient told the newspaper. “I don’t think that’s
right.”

Wayne Stanfield, president of the National Association of
Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers, was also quoted in the
article, noting the association is working to reverse the
three-year reimbursement cap.

With health care reform moving fast, both AAHomecare and NAIMES,
along with other industry groups, are urging stakeholders to
contact legislators about further cuts, and to ask for some sort of
relief on oxygen payments.