Half of Oxygen Providers Gone in L.A., Miami, AMEPA Says

MIAMI — The costs of doing business with Medicare —
including accreditation, surety bonds and employing licensed
respiratory therapists combined with reimbursement cuts and the
36-month cap — have finally caught up with the nation’s
oxygen providers, according to the Accredited Medical Equipment
Providers of America.

A Friday update from the group noted that, based on Medicare’s
Web site, in Los Angeles County, Calif., there are now 120 oxygen
providers compared to the 258 that existed in April 2008. During
the same time, in Miami-Dade County, Fla., the number of oxygen
providers dropped from 401 to 205.

Other areas showed an even larger decline, AMEPA said. Brown
County, Ohio, a 495-square mile area with 16 townships, had a 75
percent reduction in oxygen providers: In 2008, the county had
eight oxygen providers; currently there are two. Riverside County
in California has seen a 56 percent drop, down from 48 oxygen
providers last year to 21 now. Those providers cover a 7,200-square
mile area, the group said.

The decline has hit large metropolitan areas and rural areas
alike, AMEPA said. The rural counties of Leavenworth, Kan., and
Hunt, Texas, have both seen a 50 percent drop in the number of
oxygen providers, down from 10 to five.

“It becomes a safety issue when a community relies on only five
oxygen providers to service an area nearly 900 square miles in
size,” said Barry Johnson, CRT, president of the Texas Alliance of
Home Care Services, about the situation in Hunt County. “There is
only one major highway and one small medical center in Hunt. With
the limited number of providers, Medicare beneficiaries’ access to
care would be severely impacted when tornadoes, ice storms or power
outages occur. It would create a life threatening situation for
many patients who require life sustaining oxygen.”

“We have been warning legislators about this for the last nine
months,” added Roger Ribas, president of the Florida Alliance of
Home Care Services. “The costs of the new quality assurance
measures combined with the 2009 payment restrictions make it nearly
impossible for licensed oxygen suppliers to provide quality
equipment and timely services to patients.”