Wednesday November 26, 2008
Pulmonary Rehab
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See also: With over 16 million Americans suffering from COPD, the importance of pulmonary rehabilitation is clear. I formed the Congressional COPD Caucus in January 2004 to raise awareness of COPD and the threat it poses to our families and communities. I view this Caucus as a way to accomplish a number of objectives that address the unique challenges and opportunities of COPD communities.
In view of the benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation, I introduced S. 329, the Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Act, in the 110th Congress. This legislation would formally establish pulmonary rehabilitation as a specific Medicare benefit category. Although Medicare has been paying for various pulmonary rehabilitation services since the early 1980s, it has never developed a national coverage policy to guide its contractors. Therefore, Medicare intermediaries have established their own coverage policies for pulmonary rehabilitation, resulting in inconsistent coverage as well as nonexistent coverage in some regions of the country. Rehabilitation is a well-documented, proven therapy for certain patients with moderate to severe COPD. I look forward to guiding this legislation into law. At present, I continue working closely with the American Lung Association, the American Thoracic Society, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Association for Homecare and others to build a cohesive message addressing many COPD issues, including enhanced pulmonary rehabilitation under Medicare.
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