All Kansas leaders should join Roger Marshall to help COPD patients breathe | Opinion

In Kansas, there are more than 140,000 people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is a progressive lung disease that causes damage to the lungs and makes it more difficult to breathe over time. I am one of those people. My experience shows the challenges many COPD patients face to access the care they need to breathe and maintain quality of life.

A few years ago, my breathing got so bad that I would struggle with everyday tasks. When it became difficult to walk from my car into the house, I knew I needed help, I was fortunately able to see a pulmonologist and was prescribed supplemental oxygen.

I was given a larger oxygen concentrator, which works well when I am home, and a portable one for when I leave the house. The portable oxygen concentrator allows me to get out of the house, visit friends and go to dinner. However, I am limited to the three-hour battery life of the device. This means that I must plan my days carefully, so that I don’t run out of oxygen while I am out. It also makes it impossible to travel.

I would have more flexibility and independence if I had access to liquid oxygen. A liquid oxygen concentrator unit can deliver up to 10 times the rate of a typical small concentrator, is lightweight and can last several hours, enabling me to be more active and less confined to my house. Unfortunately, because of current Medicare policies, liquid oxygen is nearly impossible to obtain.

Access to liquid oxygen would make a tremendous difference in my life. I would be confident in leaving the house for longer stretches of time, which means I could spend time at museums and travel to visit my daughters.

This is why I am advocating for the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform or SOAR Act, Senate Bill 1406/House Resolution 2902. This bipartisan Medicare reform bill would help ensure people with complex respiratory conditions can access the right type of supplemental oxygen for their needs. It would also improve access to respiratory therapists and create new patient protections for people like me, so that oxygen users know their rights and understand how to use the equipment they are prescribed.

Thank you, Sen. Roger Marshall, for cosponsoring this critical bill. Now I am calling on the rest of the Kansas congressional delegation – including Sen. Jerry Moran and Reps. Sharice Davids and Derek Schmidt – to cosponsor the SOAR Act and help push it across the finish line. For individuals who need supplemental oxygen, this bill will enable them to be more active, more independent and more confident in their ability to breathe.

Rock LeGrand is an advocate with the American Lung Association. He lives in Mission.