A coalition of 27 national health, patient, and professional organizations has urged Congress to include the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) Act (H.R. 2902/S.1406) in an end-of-year legislative package. The bipartisan bill aims to improve access to supplemental oxygen for Medicare beneficiaries with serious lung and heart conditions.
In a joint statement, the organizations said: “The Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) Act is critical to ensuring quality of life for the more than 1.5 million people in the U.S. with serious lung and heart disease who rely on supplemental oxygen. Currently, they face significant health risks because they do not have access to the appropriate supplemental oxygen equipment and services to keep their organs functioning properly. The SOAR Act must be included in an end-of-year legislative package. Further delay will result in more patients losing access to medically necessary oxygen and related services.
“The SOAR Act addresses long-standing barriers to access in several critical ways. It would lock in savings by removing oxygen services and equipment from the competitive bidding reimbursement program (CBP); create a new reimbursement system to ensure everyone who needs supplemental oxygen can get the kind and amount they need; ensure people who need respiratory therapy services can access them; and establish an oxygen user’s bill of rights. It would also protect against fraud and abuse by mandating standardized documentation requirements.
“While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has engaged in rulemaking for the CBP, the final rule does not address any of the issues the SOAR Act seeks to resolve. Congressional action remains the most prudent path to restoring reliable access to liquid oxygen and ensuring patients receive the appropriate modality of supplemental oxygen they need to breathe and live independent and full lives.
“The SOAR Act would bring significant health and well-being benefits to people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis and other advanced respiratory diseases, and people awaiting lung transplants, who rely on supplemental oxygen. Oxygen therapy can decrease mortality, reduce shortness of breath and increase exercise capacity.
“We urge Congress to include the SOAR Act in an end-of-year package. These patients cannot wait.”
The letter was signed by groups including the American Lung Association, COPD Foundation, American Thoracic Society, Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, among others.
Earlier this year, over 30 health organizations sent a similar letter asking Congress for support of this legislation.
