Home Health & Hospice Week

Oxygen suppliers will see Medicare reimbursement rates for the equipment fall even further, if the Government Accountability Office gets it way. "Congress should consider reducing home oxygen payment rates," the GAO says in a new report on the matter. One problem is that rates for stationary oxygen units include refill costs, but about one-third of beneficiaries use stationary equipment that doesn't require refills, the GAO notes in the report. The report did bring up problems with the 36-month oxygen cap, noting that it may decrease access for benes nearing the cap who need to find a new oxygen supplier. In fact, the GAO's draft report recommended that CMS repeal the cap, notes the National Association for Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers. But CMS insisted that it had found suppliers for every beneficiary that reported such a problem, so the GAO removed the recommendation. The report is at www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-56.