 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Air Travel with Oxygen | Airline Oxygen Policy |
|---|---|
| POC Information | Pending Issues |
The National Home Oxygen Patients Association was established in the late 1990's to give the more than one million supplementary oxygen users in the United States the information necessary to lead productive lives. The Association is managed by a core group of oxygen users that make up the NHOPA Board of Directors. Their efforts are supported through additional volunteer work of nationally recognized physicians, equipment suppliers, and manufacturers, all of whom provide important resources to the Association.
While still a relatively small organization, the NHOPA continues to grow as it becomes better known throughout the pulmonary community. For example, NHOPA has sent representatives to participate in two national consensus conferences focusing on oxygen usage, one in 1999 and most recently in 2005. NHOPA also received an invitation to participate in a stakeholders summit in June, 2006 at the headquarters of the American College of Chest Physicians to provide the patient perspective of changes in the Medicare law affecting the payment for oxygen equipment in the home.
Perhaps our most visible activity has been related to airline oxygen. While this activity spanned nearly a decade of work, we can now see major successes. Passengers who require supplementary oxygen during flight can now bring their own Department of Transportation approved oxygen devices on board most airlines. These must be “approved devices” and currently include: Inogen One; AirSep Lifestyle; AirSep Freestyle; SeQual Eclipse and Respironics EverGo portable oxygen concentrator (POC).
As part of that effort, we also worked with the Transportation Security Administration to ensure that all guards staffing checkpoints in the United States were thoroughly briefed on the wide range of oxygen devices that can be brought through security checkpoints, regardless of the decision of airlines to allow certain devices on board for passenger use.
Education is also part of our effort. We are working to revise an excellent handbook, "Understanding Oxygen Therapy". This publication provides oxygen users with a basic understanding of oxygen therapy. We hope to have it completed by the end of this year and distributed to all current and new members.
We are currently working with policymakers in the U.S. Congress and at Medicare to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to clinically appropriate oxygen systems that not only meet their medical needs but also fit into the varying lifestyles of oxygen users. The ongoing availability of lightweight liquid systems along with newer portable oxygen concentrators and transfilling systems that use lightweight compressed oxygen all provide a challenge to Medicare - making sure that the payment system for oxygen providers keeps pace with new and innovative technologies.