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."