CQRC to subcommittee: Provide relief to preserve access

WASHINGTON – Home respiratory care providers have played a crucial role amid the ongoing public health emergency and lawmakers should support policies that ensure long-term reimbursement stability in the market, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care stated in testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. 

The CQRC submitted the testimony as part of a recent hearing on “The Long Haul: Forging a Path Through the Lingering Effects of COVID-10.” 

“During the pandemic, CQRC members have been on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19,” the testimony says. “They have experienced an increase in acute patients and fluctuations in the number of chronic patients, leading to shortages in equipment and supplies, and rising costs. As the pandemic moves into its second year, a significant percentage of patients continue to experience respiratory conditions that require their ongoing reliance on home respiratory therapies.” 

The group urges lawmakers to pursue a number of relief measures, including: 

• Extending certain flexibilities that allow patients to continue receiving respiratory care in the home setting; 
• Finalizing a proposed rule to finalize increased reimbursement rates in rural areas; and 
• Eliminating the requirement for contractors to review individual patient medical records for home respiratory therapies or establish prior authorization processes for home respiratory therapies. 

“We look forward to working with the subcommittee to make sure Americans in need of home oxygen, sleep or non-invasive ventilation therapies are able to access these life-sustaining treatment options without delay,” said Crispin Teufel, chairman of the CQRC.