Another Look At The New Medicare Home Oxygen Regulations
Congressional Letter Calls for Delay of O2 Rules
A “dear colleague” letter circulated by congressmen Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Tom Price (R-Ga.) urges members of the House of Representatives to sign a letter to the Center for Medicare Services calling for the agency to delay implementing its recently released rules for oxygen services.
Here is a draft of Congressman Shuler’s letter
Help Protect Home Oxygen Suppliers
Dear Colleague,
Please join us in protecting Home Oxygen Equipment suppliers by sending a letter to CMS, requesting that they delay the implementation of a recently released final rule that would cap Medicare reimbursements for home oxygen suppliers at 36 months which will hurt the quality of care Medicare patients receive.
CMS released this rule on October 30, 2008, and it is due to go into effect in January 1, 2009. This coincides with an across-the-board 9.5% cut in Medicare reimbursements to home oxygen suppliers that is also due to go into effect on January 1.
According to this new rule, suppliers will only be reimbursed for one 30-minute routine maintenance visit every 6 months after the 36-month period. Suppliers will not be reimbursed for emergency visits or the replacement of supplies associated with oxygen use, such as oxygen masks.
Home oxygen suppliers do more than just drop off equipment to a patient. Many suppliers, particularly smaller ones, have staff on call 24 hours a day to make home visits to repair equipment, drop off replacement supplies, and ensure that patients are receiving the proper amount of oxygen. Without adequate recognition of the services that home oxygen providers furnish, the quality of care that patients have come to expect will deteriorate, leading to an increase in the number of emergency room visits. This letter urges CMS to delay this rule until Congress is able to legislatively reform the Medicare policy as it is necessary to the survival of the Home Medical Equipment industry and the quality of care they provide to our nations seniors.
To View the Complete Text of This Letter, Click Here
To View the List of Co-Signers as of Today, Click Here
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December 19, 2008
Tags: Shuler home oxygen letter, Shuler letter to CMS Posted in: COPD - Support, Education and Advocacy, COPD - supplemental oxygen
One Response
Donna Betty - June 3, 2009
What do I do? I have not worked since I got sick in 1998 and an atypical pneumonia left me with massive lung damage, plus I used to smoke. Another Atypical Pheumonia hit me 2 years later and left me on oxygen, and then I developed RA which did not help. I was only 39 to 41 then. I went to apply for disability and they told me I had waited too long, I had no Dr that said they would provide letters, and I can’t drive any longer. I have no one to take me anywhere but my husband who works 75 miles each way to and from work. I am alone on oxygen stuck in the house, sctivity is difficult for me, and Isee no one. I was in the hospital 11 days last year after which the doctor ordered Visiting Nursing Care and a Social Worker, but they dumped me. No kidding. So I’ve just been sitting her alone, very sad and having a very hard time physically all year.
Do I apply for SSD again? Kill myself? When he retires if I live that long I will have to wait for medicare to kick in that long of a period of time? I’m just 54 and I was diagnosed or misdiagnosed since 1998. Interstitial Lung Diseae and Pulmonary Fibrosis, then last year I was rushed to the hospital with the 3rd pneumonia and the doctor told me in there that I have severe COPD. So which do I have? I’ve had 4 pulmonologists and now the one that sent me for my CAT scan today is new and she wrote down Interstitial Lung Disease. I can’t afford my meds now and we do not qualify for assistance according to yearly income. I have toyed with the idea of just ending it all rather than go from how I am which is bad enough to no insurance or way to pay for my oxygen all of a sudden. I should have gotten Disability from Social Security. I worked my whole life until I got sick when I was just 39. I’m terrified for myself and for everyone in our situation. I don’t even have Medicare to wait for until my husband retires or if he dies before I do, not likely. I agree with this letter and where do I send a letter of request or support or for information?Thank You.
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