Letter To Editor Addresses New York Times Article About Medicare Home Oxygen Therapy

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 12 Dec 2007 - 5:00 PDT

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The New York Times, in a Nov. 30 article about Medicare home oxygen therapy, "misses the most salient points in the debate" over the treatment, Peter Kelly, Chair of the Council for Quality Respiratory Care, writes in a Times letter to the editor (Kelly, New York Times, 12/7). In the article, the Times highlighted the prices that Medicare pays for oxygen equipment. Individuals who purchase oxygen equipment from pharmacies and other retailers pay about $3,500 for a three-year supply. Medicare, rather than purchase oxygen equipment, pays as much as $8,280 to rent the equipment for 36 months and cover the cost of other services that critics say are often unnecessary (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 11/30).

According to Kelly, the "article focused on oxygen therapy as merely equipment rental," but "it is in fact a highly regulated, prescribed medical treatment." He continues, "Patients not only require equipment but also corresponding services that are essential in ensuring that they ... effectively manage their incurable lung disease."

Kelly also states that if oxygen therapy is used correctly, it "reduces the frequency and duration of hospitalizations, resulting in program savings of hundreds of millions of dollars, while allowing patients suffering from severe lung disease to remain stable at home." Kelly concludes, "When analyzing Medicare policy for home oxygen therapy, it is critical that policymakers and the oxygen therapy community work together toward thoughtful reforms that balance appropriate Medicare financing with the intensive service needs of this vulnerable patient population" (Kelly, New York Times, 12/7).

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