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CMS runs pilot project to expand home oxygen coverage

Respiratory Care Weekly, April 12, 2006

While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cut back on home oxygen benefits earlier this year, a new pilot project from the agency seems to point toward restoring some oxygen benefits. The project extends coverage for home use of oxygen and related gear to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a CMS-approved clinical trial, the agency announced. It will also include Medicare beneficiaries with arterial oxygen partial measurements from 56 to 65 mmHg or whose oxygen saturation is at or above 89%, but doesn't meet the current Medicare coverage requirements for home oxygen.

"This is an important opportunity to improve the care of our seniors and to get better evidence on how doctors and patients can achieve the best outcomes for this serious and hard-to-treat condition," said CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, in a press release.

Click here http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/coverage.asp for more information.

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