Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act of 2026

Current understanding

Legislative proposal directing CMMI to test a Medicare payment model that would carve out blood transfusions from the Medicare hospice all-inclusive per-diem, paying for them separately when furnished to hospice patients. The model would evaluate effects on hospital utilization and hospice length of stay, addressing a longstanding concern that the bundled per-diem discourages hospices from accepting transfusion-dependent patients (e.g., those with hematologic malignancies and MPNs). Status: introduced.

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