By Keith Purtell
A government plan to make Medicare patients on oxygen treatment assume ownership of the equipment has been put on hold. Pressure from angry citizens was apparently the reason.
As a part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the federal government was capping Medicare benefits for portable oxygen tanks and concentrators. Concentrators are home machines that extract pure oxygen from the air. The cap would have meant that people on oxygen would have become responsible for maintenance, repairs and replacement of their existing equipment.
The American Association for Homecare says that the typical Medicare home oxygen beneficiary is a woman in her 70s who suffers from late-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and as a consequence has severely low levels of oxygen in her blood. Approximately 12 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, and an estimated 12 million more remain undiagnosed.
Providers of oxygen and oxygen-related supplies are in a section of health care known as Durable Medical Equipment.
Sherri Blaylock, center manager at LinCare on Chandler Road, said she got the word about two weeks ago.
“They have put a hold on converting the rental into a purchase,” she said. “It will be a 36-month capped rental. The companies (durable medical equipment suppliers) will still be able to maintain the equipment. A lot of people were writing letters.”
Critics of the original proposed cap said patients would not be able to get out of their houses as much as they wanted to.
Barry Watson, with DME provider AlternaCare on West Okmulgee Avenue, pointed out that when concentrator service is limited, patients may not have any warning of faulty performance.
“Right now, every 30 days we are doing our concentrator checks as a service,” he said. “What will happen now is that unless the patients can pay companies to come out, they won’t know how efficient the concentrator is or how pure the oxygen is. Until it’s too late.”
Blaylock said her company serves more than 200 patients with oxygen needs.
“Some are liquid oxygen patients, which doesn’t require an electrical bill,” she said. “If they live in a rural area and have an ice storm, it doesn’t require electricity.”
Blaylock said there are other efforts to reduce costs at the consumer level. One problem is the “donut hole” caused in Medicare Part D, which caps medication at $2,500 and then offers no reimbursement until costs reach $5,000.
“We’re able to ship nebulizer medications directly to the home and bill under Part B because it is a liquid that goes into the nebulizer,” she said. “It ends up saving them money on their part D so they can avoid that donut hole a little bit longer so they can get their other medications like their heart medication or whatever pills they’re on.”
Pat Davis, an oxygen patient and vet who served as a U.S. Navy radioman during the Vietnam War, said the change shows that people can get their government to change.
“As an American, this shows that the people’s voice can still be heard,” she said. “They can make changes if they don’t bury heads in the sand. And that is what has happened here. Instead of sitting around moaning and groaning about things, make your opinion heard. I want the people to know their voices are heard.”
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