The American Academy of Sleep Medicine is asking all Oklahoma members to submit comments to a recent proposal from the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) that will severely limit Oklahomans from receiving therapeutic sleep care. The OHCA is seeking comments to its proposed rule, which will eliminate coverage for continuous positive airway pressure devices (CPAP) for Medicaid adults and restrict PAP treatment coverage to only Medicaid children.
Individuals are allowed to submit comments from Dec. 16, 2015 – Jan. 15, 2016. The rule will then be presented to the Medicaid Advisory Committee on Jan. 21, 2016 and to the OHCA Board on Feb. 11, 2016.
Eliminating CPAP coverage will create a great disservice to the Oklahoma Medicaid population as sleep-related breathing disorders like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have deleterious health consequences that greatly increase disease comorbidities and, as a result, the cost burden of treatment. There are viable solutions that ensure patient access to care is maintained in a manner that emphasizes value of care.
When the sleep medicine field is under attack, and your patients’ sleep health is at stake, sleep physicians and their patients must band together and fight back. Please share this important information with your sleep team and your patients!!
Please use the AASM’s template letter to express your opposition to this reckless and dangerous proposal. Submit your comments by going to the OHCA Proposed Policy Changes webpage.
Please note that the OHCA will also announce a proposal that will eliminate coverage for sleep studies for Medicaid patients. The proposal will be posted for comment on Jan. 16, 2016. The AASM will send out further information on this proposal and how to submit comments soon.
The AASM’s Health Policy team is well equipped to be your resource for understanding the federal and state policies affecting your practice and research. For further correspondence and discussion on any potential collaborative opportunities, please contact AASM Senior Health Policy and Government Affairs Analyst, Ted Thurn, by phone at (630) 737-9700, or by email at tthurn@aasm.org.