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Attention Medicare Customers:
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You may have noticed on your Explanation Of Benefits (EOB) under General Information, a notice that after July 1st, 2008 you may have to use certain Medicare-contracted suppliers to get certain medical equipment and supplies. It includes a 1-800 number.
Michigan and Indiana Residents are NOT affected by this.
In certain Cities across the country (10 specific Metropolitan Statistical Areas or MSA) Medicare beneficiaries must use only specific suppliers after July 1st. No city or MSA in Michigan was part of this round one bidding.
Currently there is legislation seeking to delay further Cities or MSA’s from being included. Read more about Senate Bill #3144 and House bill #6331 further down this page.
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Again:
Michigan and Indiana residents are NOT affected by this.
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Call 1-800-632-0730 ext. 508 if you have further questions.
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Letter to Airway Oxygen Medicare customers
currently using Home Oxygen therapy
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Dear Medicare Beneficiary,
Recent legislation and proposed rule changes by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will seriously affect the benefits you currently receive related to your Oxygen Therapy. Please read this information carefully and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
In October of 2005, Congress passed legislation that for the first time requires a transfer of ownership of the oxygen equipment you currently use. Beginning January 1st 2006, after 36 continuous months of usage:
•You will own your oxygen equipment
•You will be responsible for determining if your oxygen equipment is in need of maintenance or repair
•You will be responsible for contacting someone to service your equipment and make necessary repairs
•Should you require after-hours service or have an emergency you will have to find a provider that will service your equipment
•In the event that your condition requires different equipment, you will have two choices to make:
1.Continue using the equipment which you own (but may now be inappropriate for you medical needs)
2.Pay out of pocket for the new equipment
Under today’s guidelines and rules, your current co-pay and a once a month payment from CMS to us covers all of these costs.
There has been some misinformation circulated regarding these changes. Yes, after the 36 months is up you won’t be paying the co-pay on the base rental anymore, but what they have failed to tell you is that:
•You will still be responsible for any co-pays relating to the cost of servicing and repairing of your equipment
•You will be responsible for co-pays that relate to the supplies you receive on a monthly basis for the base unit and portable unit(s)
•You will still be responsible for the cost of contents used in portable and ambulatory equipment.
Your co-pays will not go away; they will continue. This could turn out to be very costly. Under current rules and guidelines, these services are provided and do not cost you any more per month than the co-pay for which you are paying today. Most importantly on the cost side:
You will be totally responsible for the purchase of any oxygen you require for out-of-the-home activities
As your provider, we have provided you with enough ambulatory oxygen for you to go to church, shopping, socializing or any other type of activity outside of the home. Because of these recent changes, you may no longer receive the amount of oxygen you require to enjoy these types of activities. Medicare rules state that, as your provider, we provide you with enough oxygen to ambulate within and around your home. The rules that Congress passed, in addition to the proposed rules Medicare desires to implement, do not provide funding to allow us to continue to supply you with the oxygen you need to ambulate away from your home. Depending on how much you travel away from your home, this could be very costly. There are other serious issues regarding this new plan:
You may be limited in your ability to relocate
If you need to, or desire to, relocate to a different part of the country, this also may be difficult. Essentially, the government is purchasing you medical oxygen equipment from us on a 36 month payment plan. If at any point during the first 36 months of your therapy you desire to relocate outside of our current service area, you will need to find a provider in your new locale to provide you their equipment. This may prove to be difficult as well. For example: After 24 months/payments of use/service from us, you decide to move. You will need to find another provider that will provide your oxygen equipment/service for only the remaining 12 months/payments and then transfer ownership of their equipment to you.
Under the current policy, you do not face any of these constraints and would have no problem finding a provider of oxygen equipment. And:
Additional services you currently receive will diminish
For instance,
•You may lose the ability to pick up the phone and speak with an oxygen provider’s clinician about your equipment, your therapy or your health in general
•You will not receive any visits from a clinician to check on your overall health after 36 months
•You face the potential of visiting your physician more frequently
•You will be limited in the amount of help and expertise you currently receive
These are just a few of the important changes you face as an oxygen patient. Your elected officials and Medicare are putting an increased burden on you. Additionally, in the scope of the changes proposed by Medicare, the service and the freedoms you enjoy today may be dramatically reduced or eliminated. This doesn’t have to happen! In fact, the system that Congress set up to determine savings from these types of changes indicates that there will be NO savings to the Medicare system by making these changes…just trouble and uncertainty for you and disruption of a successful system that has served all parties well for over 20 years.
In order for these changes to be eliminated so that you can enjoy the peace-of-mind and freedoms you have today, it is important that you contact our elected officials. Tell your Senators to support Senate Bill S-1484 and tell your Congressman to support House Bill HR-621. These two bills will eliminate the issues outlined above. In addition, as a beneficiary you should also file a comment with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in writing prior to September 25, 2006, and let them know you oppose the changes they are seeking. Enclosed you will find the addresses of our elected officials and the address to send your comments to CMS (Medicare).
We cannot over emphasize how important it is that YOU communicate with these people in Washington. They don’t want to listen to us, but we know that they listen to you as voter. We pride ourselves on providing you with the best service and the best equipment. We do not want to be forced to eliminate any of the things that give you the best possible therapy. Please take the time right now to contact those mentioned above. Feel free to call us should you have any questions.
Thank you for allowing us to be your oxygen therapy provider.
Sincerely,
Steve Slater
sslater@airwayoxygeninc.com
616-247-1312 # 508
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If you are a caregiver or family member of a Medicare beneficiary that is currently receiving Home Oxygen therapy, please share this letter with them.
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Useful Links to Government Websites
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What does "competitive bidding" mean to you,
our valued Medicare patient?
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Your freedom to choose your provider, including the one who's taken care of you for years, will disappear. This process will reduce the number of home health-care providers, especially in rural areas, and limit your access to care.
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Both quality and service will be seriously compromised. As you know, the services we provide to you are as important as the equipment you use. The few home health-care providers left will face severe budget constraints, and the first thing that will be cut is service, including preventive equipment maintenance, patient/caregiver education, 24-hour on-call service and care by professional respiratory therapists.
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Innovation in home medical equipment technology will be limited. Advances such as equipment that makes oxygen last longer for traveling consumers or lighter walkers with wheels and brakes that are safer and easier to use may not have occurred under this proposed program. These innovations enhance the quality of your lives. By cutting reimbursements, future innovations will not occur. Manufacturers will be incented to produce cheap equipment with none of these innovative features you've come to expect.
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The end of small businesses, which are the bedrock of the American way of life. Those of you who owned businesses know how much of yourselves you invested in your operation. Those of you who patronize small businesses know that the level of service provided by a locally owned non-chain operation far exceeds that of the "big box" nationals that are rapidly overtaking the country's landscape. Competitive bidding will create a monopoly, and your quality of care will be compromised as a result.
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As your locally owned and independently operated care provider, we are telling you this with heavy hearts. We consider you, our patients, to be part of our extended family. What can you do to ensure that the quality care we've been providing can continue? Contact your local congressional representatives and your US Senators AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to let them know you are opposed to what competitive bidding will do to your quality of life. If you need addresses for them, please call our business office at 1.800.632.0730 and we'll be happy to provide you with the information.
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800-632-0730
© Copyright 2008 Airway Oxygen Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
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