CMS' FINAL RULE SHORES UP OXYGEN PAYMENTS, GROUP SAYS

By issuing new reimbursement rates for oxygen and oxygen equipment, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has "significantly increased the payment amounts for oxygen from what it had originally proposed," the American Association for Homecare said Nov. 8. The new payment rates are effective Jan. 1, 2007.

Under the proposed rule, published in the Aug. 3 Federal Register, the CMS "would have significantly reduced Medicare payment for stationary equipment such as concentrators to offset an increase in payment for newer technologies such as oxygen generating portable equipment," the group said.

The association lobbied for higher payments, and said the CMS "agreed" with it in the agency's final rule, increasing payment amounts.

The final rule can be viewed at www.cms.hhs.gov/HomeHealthPPS/downloads/CMS1304Fdisplay.pdf (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HomeHealthPPS/downloads/CMS1304Fdisplay.pdf).