SOAR Act of 2025
Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims to Expand Medicare Access to Home Oxygen and Respiratory Therapists
Stalled
No legislative action in over 90 days.
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- This bill changes how Medicare pays for home oxygen equipment and services. Starting in 2026, it moves away from a system based on the lowest bidder to a set payment schedule. This is designed to make sure suppliers are paid enough to provide high-quality equipment and reliable service, especially for people living in rural areas.
- People on Medicare who need oxygen will get new protections through a 'Patient Bill of Rights.' This guarantees the right to choose your supplier, receive 24-hour emergency support, and get help with equipment when traveling. It also requires suppliers to provide better safety training and regular equipment maintenance.
- For the first time, Medicare would officially cover services from respiratory therapists for patients using home oxygen. These experts would help evaluate patients, monitor their treatment, and make sure they are using their equipment correctly and safely to avoid health complications.
- The policy specifically targets liquid oxygen, which has become harder for many patients to find. It sets a higher minimum payment for liquid oxygen to encourage companies to keep providing it. This is vital for 'high-flow' patients who need more oxygen than standard portable tanks can provide.
- Patients will receive monthly updates telling them exactly how many months are left in their equipment rental period. Medicare usually stops charging patients for the equipment itself after 36 months of rentals, and this bill ensures people are notified exactly when those out-of-pocket costs should end.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
Life & Work
Small durable medical equipment suppliers who provide home oxygen services have been squeezed out of the market by competitive bidding that drove prices too low to sustain their businesses. This bill raises reimbursement rates, especially for liquid oxygen (with a floor at 200% of the 2015 fee schedule adjusted for inflation), and ties future payments to the consumer price index. This should help small oxygen suppliers stay in business and potentially re-enter markets they had abandoned.
Programs
Disabilities
State Impacts
Milestones
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
5 articles
Protecting patients' rights: Pulmonary nurse urges Congress to pass SOAR Act
The SOAR Act is built on four pillars to make supplemental oxygen more patient-centric. It addresses how decreased Medicare reimbursement has negatively impacted care, aiming to restore access to liquid oxygen and professional respiratory services that were cut under competitive bidding.
SOAR Act Would Help Individuals Relying on Oxygen Thrive
This legislation would stabilize payments for liquid oxygen and ensure patients have access to respiratory therapist services through their oxygen supplier. The bill also codifies a Patient's Bill of Rights to ensure individuals understand their requirements around equipment and care options.
SOAR Act in limbo while legislators ride out government shutdown
Despite broad bipartisan backing, the SOAR Act's future is uncertain due to federal budget delays. If enacted, it would remove oxygen from Medicare competitive bidding and create a new add-on rate to reimburse respiratory therapist services, which advocates say is critical for high-flow patients.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
SOAR Act of 2025
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(5)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.