The SOAR Act of 2024 makes significant changes to how Medicare pays for oxygen equipment and services, starting January 1, 2025. Currently, oxygen suppliers compete in a bidding program that often results in lower payments, which can make it harder for suppliers to provide quality service. This law removes oxygen from that competitive bidding system and instead sets payment rates based on regional factors—higher in rural and remote areas like Alaska and Hawaii, and adjusted annually for inflation. The law also requires suppliers to provide comprehensive services like patient education, 24-hour on-call support, equipment maintenance, and help with portable oxygen so patients can stay mobile.

The bill adds respiratory therapist services to Medicare coverage, allowing these trained professionals to help assess and monitor patients using oxygen equipment. It simplifies the paperwork doctors need to complete to order oxygen by creating a standardized template, and it requires Medicare to process claims electronically. For liquid oxygen specifically, the law guarantees minimum payment levels to ensure suppliers can afford to deliver this more expensive form of oxygen.

Patients gain important new protections, including the right to choose their oxygen supplier and switch if needed, the right to receive clear information about their treatment options, and the right to file complaints without fear of losing service. Suppliers must provide 30 days' notice before involuntarily discharging a patient and must have emergency plans for power outages. Overall, the law aims to improve patient access to oxygen equipment and services while ensuring suppliers have adequate payment to maintain quality care.

SOAR Act of 2024

Cassidy, Bill

Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform Act of 2024 or the SOAR Act of 2024This bill establishes certain requirements with respect to the payment and provision of supplemental oxygen and related services under Medicare.For example, the bill provides for separate payments, indexed to inflation, of oxygen and related equipment, supplies, and services under Medicare (rather than under the competitive acquisition program). It also specifically covers services that are provided by respiratory therapists under Medicare and provides for an additional payment adjustment for these services.Additionally, the bill (1) requires the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services to develop an electronic template for providers to use when prescribing oxygen and related equipment, supplies, and services; and (2) establishes certain rights for beneficiaries receiving these items and services, such as the right to choose their suppliers and to receive clear communications and be informed about the services provided.