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Do You Use Oxygen Equipment?
Posted by: DeLila Bergan on December 23, 2008
Recent federal legislation has placed a cap on the future payments Medicare will make for the rental and maintenance of home oxygen equipment. Medicare will continue to pay for oxygen refills, but in most cases, Medicare will not pay for replacement supplies and normal maintenance on equipment beyond 36 months.
An additional concern is that Medicare is again considering implementing a competitive bidding system for medical equipment and supplies which, in the original proposal postponed this summer, would have qualified Vendor A to supply two or three specific items of equipment, Vendor B a different two or three items, etc., thus making it likely that each patient would need to work with multiple medical equipment suppliers to furnish the needs of that single patient.
Please contact your local congressperson to ask that Congress repeal the oxygen “cap” and the proposed plan for competitive bidding for durable medical equipment in upcoming health care bills. The comment period on the current bill ends on 12/29/08, so please contact your representative promptly.
Our thanks to Tom Polston of Specialty Medical Sales for this legislative update. Specialty Medical Sales provides all types of medical equipment and supplies. To see their listing on our web site, choose Doctors, Hospitals, etc., then click on Medical and Caregiving Equipment, and then on Medical Equipment and Supplies. Contact Mr. Polston directly at (972) 434-2073; visit the Specialty Medical Sales web site at www.specialtymedical.com.
