Clearing the air: Proposed changes to Medicare's oxygen coverage

Clearing the air: Proposed changes to Medicare's oxygen coverage

In its recent proposal to modify the national coverage policy for home oxygen use, CMS extends coverage beyond beneficiaries suffering from documented chronic lung disease. In addition to increasing access to patients suffering from other types of respiratory distress, the changes could finally synchronize reimbursement policy with prescribing physicians’ determinations for medically necessary treatment.

On the other hand, changing nearly two decades of procedure and habit is bound to raise some issues:

• How do suppliers distinguish between chronic and acute patients for proper billing?
• How do proposed documentation changes affect audit risk?
• Do the proposed changes increase administrative costs?

In this session, Andrea will tackle the questions above by exploring:

• Oxygen as a covered treatment for acute conditions.
• Elimination of CMNs for initial qualification and recertification.
• Risks associated with increased reliance on supplier judgement.

CMS is accepting public comments for the next several weeks. To provide substantive feedback, suppliers need to consider how the proposed changes might affect daily operations, cash flow and risk. 

Presented by: Andrea Stark (MiraVista)
​Moderated by: Liz Beaulieu (HME News)

Cost: $149.00 (includes live webcast and recording)