“It is a honor to serve as the next Chairman of CQRC,” said Barnhard. “In this role, I look forward to advocating for reforms to protect the delivery of care to home respiratory patients and the stability of our profession. I am excited to engage with stakeholders across our diverse community to promote a greater understanding of our patient population and advance policies that align with their clinical needs, including access to supplemental oxygen.”
The CQRC’s mission is to educate members of the home respiratory care community, including patients, caregivers, health care professionals, and others to protect access to the home respiratory care benefits in the Medicare program. CQRC informs the government about the continued importance of home respiratory therapy services, including supplemental oxygen, home sleep, and home non-invasive ventilation therapies, to patients, caregivers, friends, family, and other members of the home respiratory care community. Currently, an estimated 600,000 Medicare beneficiaries receive respiratory care services in the home and community.
One of CQRC’s top priorities is the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) Act (S. 3821/H.R. 7829), a bipartisan legislation to remove supplemental oxygen from Medicare’s competitive bidding program and permanently extend Medicare’s blended payment rates, ensuring accessibility in rural and less densely populated urban areas. Additionally, it mandates the use of the oxygen template for documentation, eliminating the need for physicians to disclose their patients’ private medical records, a policy change CQRC has been advocating to both the Congress and Medicare.
The SOAR Act also establishes a separate payment system for liquid oxygen to rectify chronic underfunding issues that have led to documented patient access challenges. Furthermore, the legislation mandates reimbursement for respiratory therapist services in alignment with state laws.
“I am looking forward to working with all of my colleagues on the CQRC Board to advance the SOAR Act and protect access to the life-sustaining services our members enable and provide every single day,” continued Barnhard.
In addition to Barnhard becoming Chairman of the Board, CQRC also elected Perry Bernocchi, Executive Vice President of Owens Minor/Apria and CEO of Patient Direct, to Treasurer. Tim Pigg, CEO of Rotech, was also named Secretary of CQRC.
The CQRC is a coalition of the nation’s six leading home oxygen therapy provider and manufacturing companies providing in-home patient services and respiratory equipment including liquid oxygen, oxygen concentrators, and sleep therapy devices, to Medicare beneficiaries who rely upon home oxygen therapy to maintain their independence and enhance their quality of life. Learn more at cqrc.org.
Media Contact: Ellen Almond, CQRC | 202.271.0234
