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Op-Ed: As COVID emergency ends, don’t lose sight of what worked
Supplemental oxygen therapy patients and providers in North Carolina and throughout the country are anxiously awaiting guidance and action from the federal Medicare program as the Public Health Emergency (PHE) connected to the COVID-19 pandemic is set to end on May 11. This includes the more than 525,000 North Carolinians living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary…
Read MorePreserve Access to Home Oxygen Therapy Post-Pandemic
CMS should honor its commitment to Medicare beneficiaries, especially those who began home respiratory therapy under the PHE, without requiring them to “restart” the documentation process. Requiring requalification would also be a nightmare for physicians who are already overwhelmed with patient demands. The Covid-19 public health emergency (PHE) was always bound to conclude. The important…
Read MoreRespiratory Care Providers Press CMS For Post-PHE Guidance
Advocates are urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to clarify post-public health emergency (PHE) guidance for home respiratory therapies and protect access for those people who began the therapies under relaxed PHE rules. “As a community we ask that CMS adopt a balanced approach that protects Medicare against fraud and recognizes the flexibilities…
Read MoreRespiratory Care Providers Press CMS For Post-PHE Guidance
Respiratory therapy providers are calling on CMS to issue unwinding guidance for the sector as the COVID-19 public health emergency comes to an end after raising concerns that the agency hasn’t clarified what providers need to be doing to ensure the nearly 1 million patients who began using oxygen during the pandemic don’t lose coverage.…
Read MoreCQRC Calls For Clear Post-PHE Transition
WASHINGTON – With a “massive” number of patients starting on home respiratory therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care is renewing its call for a transition period to ensure those patients don’t lose access when the public health emergency ends on May 11, says the Council for Quality Respiratory Care. While providers…
Read MoreMedicare Should Protect Patient Access to Life Sustaining Home Respiratory Therapy After the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends in May
To ensure continued access to home respiratory care, patients and providers urgently need a transition period and a clear, standardized template for demonstrating medical need WASHINGTON – Today the Council for Quality Respiratory Care – a coalition of the nation’s leading home respiratory therapy providers and manufacturing companies – called for greater steps to protect America’s…
Read MoreCQRC Fears Lack Of Template Could Increase Denials
WASHINGTON — The Council for Quality Respiratory Care has expressed disappointment that the recently published local coverage determination for oxygen does not call for the use of a data-driven oxygen template when documenting medical need. Instead, the LCD, released on Nov. 18, continues to rely on the use of patient medical records, which the CQRC says can…
Read MoreCQRC Disappointed Latest LCD on Supplemental Oxygen Fails to Adopt Clear, Objective Oxygen Template
WASHINGTON — The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC) – a coalition of the nation’s leading home oxygen therapy providers and manufacturing companies – today expressed disappointment that the latest Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for oxygen and oxygen equipment issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 18, does not call for the use…
Read MoreCQRC Urges CMS to Adopt Clear, Objective Oxygen Template and Issue Clear Guidance about End of the PHE to Ensure Patients’ Access to Home Respiratory Care
Home Respiratory Care Leaders Respond to CMS’ Request for Information Seeking Public Comment on Accessing Healthcare Provider Challenges WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC) – a coalition of the nation’s leading home oxygen therapy providers and manufacturing companies – recently submitted its response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Make Your…
Read MoreCQRC: ‘Time is Ripe’ On Oxygen
WASHINGTON – With local coverage determinations for home oxygen therapy anticipated in October, Crispin Teufel, chair of the Council for Quality Respiratory Care, hopes the industry will get more clarity on a post-CMN environment. The CMS requirement for CMNs is set to expire Jan. 1, 2023, and the industry has been pushing for a simple…
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