Tag: Home Oxygen Therapy
In brief: Tightening enrollment, SOAR Act urgency, summer advocacy
July 2, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 1 released a 2027 Home Health Prospective Payment System proposed rule that includes new provider enrollment provisions that would apply across Medicare provider and supplier types. Among them: The ability to claw-back payments retroactive to the date of noncompliance for all revocations.
Under current regulations, certain Medicare enrollment revocations become effective prospectively — specifically, 30 days after...
SOAR Act gains cosponsors
June 25, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Following AAHomecare’s Washington Legislative Conference in May, the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform Act (SOAR Act) has added 13 new co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate. H.R. 2902 and S. 1406 would, among other things, establish a separate payment rate for liquid oxygen to ensure access for Medicare beneficiaries with complex respiratory needs and permanently remove oxygen from competitive bidding.
The SOAR Act would also:
Establish...
Home Oxygen Company plugs in with all-electric delivery fleet
February 23, 2026HME News Staff
MODESTO, Calif. – Home Oxygen Company has transitioned its entire delivery fleet to all-electric Chevrolet BrightDrop Zevo vans, strengthening delivery reliability and operational consistency across its home medical equipment (HME) services. By standardizing delivery operations around purpose-built electric vehicles, Home Oxygen Company is reducing variability across its delivery footprint and increasing control over response time, routing and performance accountability,...
Norco Medical expands presence in Northwest
December 1, 2025HME News Staff
BOISE, Idaho – Norco Medical has acquired Kaysville, Utah-based Petersen Medical, broadening its service offerings and reach across eight states in the Northwest.
Norco Medical expects the acquisition to drive operational excellence and elevate patient experiences.
“We are thrilled to welcome Petersen Medical to the Norco family,” said Norco Inc. President Brent Seward and CEO Nicole Kissler. “Our combined strengths, expertise and...
CQRC adds its voice to hearing on chronic disease management
November 24, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC) sent a letter to the U.S. House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Vernon Buchanan and Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett II in response to a recent hearing on “Modernizing Care Coordination to Prevent and Treat Chronic Disease.” The letter expressed the CQRC’s appreciation for holding a hearing to consider ways to address challenges in diagnosing and managing chronic diseases and acknowledged the important bipartisan...
CQRC offers up SOAR Act as way to support access to new tech
September 22, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC) shared a letter with the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee in advance of its hearing “Examining Policies to Enhance Seniors’ Access to Breakthrough Medical Technologies” to promote its SOAR Act. In the letter, the CQRC makes the case that the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) Act (S. 1406/H.R. 2902) would:
Support innovation by locking in the savings from Medicare’s competitive...
Inogen: ‘We are executing a turnaround’
August 11, 2025HME News Staff
GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen reported revenue of $92.3 million for the second quarter of 2025, a 4% increase compared to the same period last year. This marks the company’s sixth consecutive quarter of mid-single-digit percentage growth.
Other financial results from the quarter:
Reported GAAP net loss of $4.2 million and adjusted net loss of $0.7 million.
Delivered adjusted EBITDA of $2.1 million, the second consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA.
Generated...
Bill introduced to ‘maintain and stabilize’ oxygen reimbursement
April 11, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform Act, which would remove supplemental oxygen from Medicare’s competitive bidding program, has been reintroduced in the Senate and House of Representatives, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care has announced.
The bill would remove supplemental oxygen from the bid program to establish separate payment rates for non-liquid and liquid oxygen, reflecting the diverse patient needs and oxygen therapy modalities, the organization...
Bid program had no significant impact on access, study finds
November 5, 2024HME News Staff
CHICAGO – Medicare's phased implementation of the competitive bidding program in 2011 and 2013 did not reduce oxygen use, according to the findings of a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. In the cohort study of 5,753,308 Medicare beneficiaries with COPD, the program was associated with only a 0.19 percentage point reduction in new oxygen prescriptions and a 0.77 percentage point reduction in oxygen discontinuations, researchers say. As such, the currently proposed legislation...
In brief: Apple Watch, SOAR Act, Abbott Lingo, MAC consolidation
September 11, 2024HME News Staff
CUPERTINO, Calif. – Apple on Sept. 9 unveiled Apple Watch Series 10, which among other things, features a new sleep apnea feature.
Building on the intelligent health features already available to track key overnight metrics such as heart rate, respiratory rate and wrist temperature, the watch’s new sleep apnea feature can help identify signs of sleep apnea, the company says, by using the accelerometer to monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions...