H.R. 9703: Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act of 2026

This bill would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a new way of paying for blood transfusions for people receiving hospice care under Medicare.

What changes

Under current Medicare hospice payment rules, hospice providers receive a fixed daily payment that is meant to cover most hospice-related care. This bill would direct CMMI to create a model where blood transfusions for hospice patients are paid separately from that daily hospice payment, rather than being bundled into it.

The separate payment for a transfusion would be set at the amount Medicare would otherwise pay if the transfusion were not part of hospice care.

When it would happen

The bill says CMMI would have to establish and begin the model within 1 year after the law takes effect.

What would be studied

If CMMI evaluates the model, it would compare patients in the model with similar patients not in the model and look at things like:

• How many chemotherapy services people receive in the last 14 days of life
• Hospital use in the last 30 days of life, including emergency room visits, inpatient stays, observation stays, ICU days, and the length of those stays
• How many days people receive hospice care before death
• How many hospice patients receive transfusions compared with similar patients not in hospice
• How often transfusions are given on average
• The total number of transfusions given
• Any other areas CMMI thinks are relevant

Practical effect

The bill is meant to make it easier for hospice patients to get blood transfusions by removing the need for hospice providers to absorb the cost within the standard hospice daily payment. It does not directly mandate transfusions for any patient; it creates a Medicare payment test to see how separate reimbursement would affect access and care patterns.

Relevant Companies

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