Tag: CQRC

WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care is asking industry stakeholders to contact CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to standardize the paperwork requirements for home oxygen coverage.  The CQRC says requiring physicians to provide medical records could result in “the vast majority of claims being denied.”  “CMS has indicated that physicians will be required to provide their medical records instead of using a form with the information...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration obtained additional information during an inspection of a Philips’ manufacturing facility that was not previously available to the agency that showed the silicone-based foam used in a singular, similar device marketed outside the U.S. failed one safety test for the release of volatile organic compounds.  Similar testing provided by Philips to the FDA on devices authorized for marketing in the U.S. had demonstrated acceptable results.  “The...

WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care has commended lawmakers in the House of Representatives for including an important provision in the newly introduced 21st Century Cures 2.0 Act to permanently extend the home as a site for telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries. The bill would also allow CMS to extend other telehealth flexibilities permanently to increase access to telehealth services. “Given the increasingly important role of home respiratory care in the treatment...

WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care in a statement today encouraged CMS to reconsider eliminating the CMN for home oxygen therapy.  The CQRC, a coalition of the nation’s largest respiratory providers and manufacturers, says doing that would replace “objective testing ordered by a patient’s physician for the subjective decision-making of Medicare contractors.”  “We are highly supportive of allowing acute patients to receive oxygen...

WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care in a statement today encouraged CMS to reconsider eliminating the CMN for home oxygen therapy. The CQRC, a coalition of the nation’s largest respiratory providers and manufacturers, says doing that would replace “objective testing ordered by a patient’s physician for the subjective decision-making of Medicare contractors.” “We are highly supportive of allowing acute patients to receive oxygen therapy outside...

Being the recipient of Google Alerts for “oxygen concentrator” is a scary and sad place to be right now.  I have these alerts set up for a number of key terms in the HME industry – think “sleep therapy” and “home infusion” and “AdaptHealth” and “Invacare.” They’re delivered to my email inbox every afternoon.  Recent alerts for “oxygen concentrator” have been almost exclusively related to...

WASHINGTON – CMS’s competitive bidding program set the stage for a number of the difficulties that the HME industry is seeing as it tries to meet increased demand for oxygen therapy for COVID-19 patients, say the leaders of Apria Healthcare and Lincare and the Council of Quality Respiratory Care.  The agency may have dropped oxygen from Round 2021, its latest round of bidding, but 10 years since the program’s...

WASHINGTON – CMS’s “meager” 0.6% CPI-U adjustment escalates the need to pass H.R. 8158, says the Council for Quality Respiratory Care. The lack of a larger adjustment, combined with the budget neutrality requirement, means a reimbursement cut of about 5% for stationary oxygen in non-bid areas, though the impact varies by region, according to the council. “We remain hopeful that Congress will implement a technical fix to this issue through bipartisan end-of-year legislation,”...

WASHINGTON - CMS's decision not to push forward with the majority of Round 2021 of the competitive bidding program has been met with support from numerous providers. CMS on Oct. 27 announced new payment amounts for off-the-shelf back and knee braces but not for 13 other product categories, including CPAP and oxygen therapy, because there were no expected savings. In light of the ongoing public health emergency, it's the right thing to do, says Casey Hoyt, CEO of Viemed Healthcare. “While the...

WASHINGTON - The Council for Quality Respiratory Care is celebrating National Respiratory Care Week, Oct. 26-31, by promoting H.R. 8158, a bill that would eliminate the budget neutrality requirement for home oxygen services, supplies and equipment. The annual event, sponsored by the American Association for Respiratory Care, recognizes the critical role that respiratory therapists play in promoting patient health. The CQRC commends RTs for their efforts to ensure continued access to care, even as...