Home Health & Hospice Week

Makers of higher tech equipment gain payment boost.

After months of guesswork and dire predictions, oxygen equipment suppliers got some positive news from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding proposed cuts to Medicare payments for oxygen and related equipment.

Stocks of Lincare and other industry players rose when CMS released the news that it had greatly eased the cuts set forth in the earlier proposed rule.

Go to the source: The final changes in oxygen provisions, which were mandated in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, are spelled out in the final rule regarding home health prospective payment updates. The final rule requires medical equipment providers to transfer the title of oxygen equipment to the beneficiary after 36 months for equipment placed in service after Jan. 2, 2006.

Payment boost: In the final rule, CMS established a payment class for new technology such as portable oxygen transfilling equipment and portable oxygen concentrators, a development praised by Elyria, OH-based Invacare. Invacare's HomeFill Oxygen System falls into the new category of equipment.

Other noteworthy changes include:

• The monthly payment amount for stationary oxygen equipment during the 36-month rental period increased from $177 in the proposed rule issued earlier this year to $198.40 (for 2007) in the final rule.

• The monthly payment for portable contents increased to $77.45 from $55 in the proposed rule.

Note: To view the final rule, go to www.cms.hhs.govHomeHealthPPS/downloads/CMS1304Fdisplay.pdf. The rule is scheduled to be published in the Nov. 9 Federal Register.