Bipartisan Bill Introduced to Improve Access to Blood Transfusion in Hospice Care

A bipartisan group of senators led by Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) reintroduced legislation last week that seeks to improve access to blood transfusions during end-of-life care.

The bill, the Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act (S.2186), would require the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test allowing blood transfusions to be paid separately from the Medicare hospice all-inclusive per diem payment. Rosen, along with co-sponsors Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and John Barasso (R-Wyo.), first introduced the bill in 2021 with the support of AABB and partner organizations in the blood community.

In addition, Rosen, Baldwin, Barasso and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) introduced the Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act (S.1845) last month, which aims to provide comprehensive palliative care services – including palliative blood transfusion – much earlier in the course of illness. This bipartisan bill would create a demonstration project within Medicare to allow palliative care to be covered concurrently with curative treatment for patients with serious illness or injury.

Advancing coverage and payment policies that support patients’ access to transfusion medicine throughout the continuum of care is a key component of AABB’s Advocacy Agenda.  Additional information about AABB’s efforts to expand coverage and reimbursement policies is available online.