Blood Community Urges CMS to Recognize Blood Products as Essential Medicines

AABB, America’s Blood Centers (ABC) and the American Red Cross (ARC) urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to recognize blood and blood components as essential medicines in a June 10 letter to CMS administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.

AABB, ABC and ARC requested CMS action in response to the agency’s Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals proposed rule for fiscal year 2025. In the proposed rule, CMS defines “essential medicines” as the 86 essential medicines prioritized in the "Essential Medicines Supply Chain and Manufacturing Resilience Assessment" report, developed by the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. This report exclusively focuses on small molecules and therapeutic biologics and omits blood and blood products from its analysis and scope “due to differences in their supply chains.”

In response, the blood community emphasized that the Food and Drug Administration considers blood and blood products to be essential for addressing various medical conditions, including trauma, surgeries, cancer treatments and other life-saving interventions. Furthermore, AABB, ABC and ARC believe that by including blood and blood products in the proposed payment policy, CMS would further enhance its emergency preparedness efforts, contributing to the resilience of the health care system and the well-being of patients.

AABB, ABC and ARC also requested that CMS ensure that payments are sufficient to cover the costs of maintaining a “buffer stock” of blood and blood products. The organizations stated that establishing a payment policy for creating and storing a “buffer stock” of blood and blood products would contribute to a more holistic framework that addresses routine and emergency health care needs.