AABB Extends Support for Revised CAR T-Cell Therapy, Therapeutic Apheresis Coverage Policies

AABB has extended its support for the proposed changes to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and therapeutic apheresis coverage under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) physician fee schedule and Medicare Part B payment and coverage policies for calendar year 2025.

In a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, AABB thanked CMS for recognizing the complexity of CAR T-cell therapy and urged the agency to finalize the proposed changes. AABB also emphasized the importance of using accurate data to determine practice expense inputs for these new codes and encouraged CMS to adjust these inputs as new data becomes available to ensure they reflect the substantial resources involved.

Additionally, AABB supported CMS’s proposal to adopt the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC)-recommended practice expense inputs for CPT codes related to therapeutic apheresis and photopheresis. AABB urged CMS to continue evaluating and updating these codes to keep pace with their growing use in transfusion medicine and biotherapies.

Additional information about AABB’s efforts to expand access to blood and biotherapies products is available on AABB’s Coverage and Reimbursement web page.