Washington
Provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act that cap Medicare oxygen rental at 36 months would be repealed under legislation introduced in the Senate.
S. 3814, introduced by Sen. Pat Roberts, R.-Kan., shortly before the Senate adjourned for its August recess, would restore ownership of oxygen equipment to providers.
“With the transfer of ownership of the medical oxygen equipment to the patient, important preventive maintenance mandated by manufacturers and currently performed by oxygen providers shifts to the patient,” Roberts said. “This increases the risk of patients self-medicating or not getting enough oxygen due to equipment malfunction. This is an unreasonable burden and worry for seniors who are very ill.”
Sens. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, co-sponsored the legislation, which was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
The bill is a companion to H.R. 5513, the Home Oxygen Patient Protection Act of 2006, introduced in May by Reps. Joe Schwarz (see next page), R-Mich., and Tom Price, R-Ga.
