WASHINGTON--With a "Dear Colleague" letter sent last week, Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., urged the Senate Budget Committee to reject the cuts to home oxygen proposed in President Bush's 2009 budget.

In the letter, Lincoln and Roberts state: "The President's FY 2009 budget proposal includes reducing the rental period for oxygen equipment from 36 months to 13 months. We have yet to even see the effects of the 36-month cap, passed as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, on beneficiary access and care. This, combined with other provisions passed over the last several years, will reduce Medicare reimbursement for home oxygen therapy by an estimated 20 percent over the next several months, which we believe could jeopardize care for some patients and make benefit reform much more difficult to achieve."

Lincoln and Roberts encouraged fellow senators to add their support through a sign-on letter directed to Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad, D-N.J., and ranking member Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

"Home oxygen therapy, when properly prescribed and used, can slow lung degeneration and prevent hospitalizations, saving scarce Medicare dollars. Since 1998, the home oxygen payment system has been subjected to repeated changes and cuts," the sign-on reads. "We ask the Committee to weigh the cumulative effect of these cuts and reject assumptions of additional funding reductions."

Both letters can be viewed on the AAHomecare Web site at www.aahomecare.org.