Tue, Dec 02 2008
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Published July 13, 2008 08:09 pm - THE PEOPLE SPEAK: Federal government pays rent; owning less I read the article about the Medicare payments for oxygen in the July 6 Phoenix. I feel there are several inaccurate statements in this article unless Medicare has issued a newer set of guidelines than the 2008 copy I have.
I am sure the providers of durable medical equipment would prefer to keep the status quo, and that is one reason Medicare is going broke. According to my Medicare book on page 20, “Items such as oxygen, wheelchairs, walkers and hospital beds needed for use in the home.” For certain equipment such as wheelchairs and hospital beds, Medicare pays rental fees for up to 13 months (36 months for oxygen). After this you own the equipment and Medicare pays for maintenance. You pay co-insurance and Part B deductible applies. In some cases, if you buy the equipment without renting it first, Medicare pays no part. The article said there were 12 million users of oxygen. These machines can be purchased for around $650. Medicare pays $198 rent a month on them. So this means Medicare is paying $2,400,000,000 a month in rent. Is this a lucrative business or what? When you talk to the durable medical equipment suppliers, it is their ox that is getting gored when in reality they are breaking Medicare. A one-time purchase of the machines would cost approximately $7,800,000,000. Medicare is paying nearly this much every three months. I have written to Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe as well as Rep. Dan Boren about this subject and would urge everyone to get involved in contacting their congressional delegation. This is the only way we might be able to reclaim the greatest country in the world. You can go to congress.org and get all of their e-mail addresses. Another reason Medicare is in trouble is that Congress has borrowed those funds for other things, just like they have used Social Security funds and Civil Service funds. A private business doing this would be brought up on embezzlement charges. Again, I urge everyone to get involved in letting them know how you feel. It only takes a few minutes and can mean so much. Lonnie Haughey Warner 
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