Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6]
Introduced
Summary
Separate Medicare payment for blood transfusions in hospice care would be tested by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. The bill would let the center pay for transfusions outside the hospice all-inclusive per diem and study how that payment affects care near the end of life.
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- Hospice patients: Transfusions for people in hospice would be billed and paid under Medicare rules separately from the hospice daily rate rather than bundled into the per diem.
- Hospices and providers: Providers would receive the payment amount that would apply under Medicare if the transfusion were not furnished as part of hospice care.
- CMI and policy analysis: The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation would be required to implement this testing model within one year and include it among models it selects to study. The center would compare model participants to similar patients outside the model on measures such as chemotherapy in the last two weeks of life, hospital use in the last month including emergency visits and ICU days, days receiving hospice care before death, and transfusion frequency and counts.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Separate hospice transfusion payments for Medicare
If enacted, this bill would require the Medicare Innovation Center to test paying blood transfusions for hospice patients separately from the hospice per diem. The Center would start the payment model within one year of enactment. The transfusion payment would equal the amount Medicare would pay if the transfusion were not part of hospice care. The model would be evaluated by comparing participants to similar non-model patients on measures such as chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life; hospital use in the last 30 days (ED visits, inpatient and observation stays and lengths, and ICU days); days in hospice before death; and counts and frequency of transfusions for hospice versus non-hospice patients.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6]
MI • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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