Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act of 2026
Key claim: The bill directs CMMI to test a Medicare model that pays for blood transfusions furnished to hospice patients separately from the hospice all-inclusive per diem and to evaluate effects on hospital use and hospice length of stay.
Abstract
(HR9703 · 119th Congress) Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act of 2026 This bill requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a model under which blood transfusions furnished to an individual receiving hospice care are paid separately from the hospice all-inclusive per diem payment under Medicare. The CMMI must evaluate the model by comparing patients participating in the model with those outside of the model in relation to specified metrics, such as hospital utilization and days of hospice care before the end of life. Latest action (2026-07-15): Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Why this matters
Medicare’s hospice per-diem bundles nearly all palliative services, which effectively excludes transfusion-dependent patients—including many with advanced MPNs, MDS, and other hematologic conditions—from electing hospice without giving up transfusions. A CMMI test that unbundles transfusions could expand hospice access for this population and change the financial calculus for both hospices and referring hematologists. The bill is at the introduction stage, so any payment change is contingent on enactment and subsequent CMMI model design.