America’s Blood Centers (ABC), the national organization of community-based, independent blood centers that supply 60 percent of the nation’s blood supply, is proud to express our strong support of S.4118 and H.R.7966, the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act of 2026. These important bills expand access to hospice care for patients who depend on palliative blood transfusions to maintain quality of life.
Introduced by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA), the Hospice Care Act would allow for separate reimbursement outside of the hospice bundled rate to better reflect the cost of blood transfusions in a hospice setting. By addressing this payment barrier, the bill would expand the availability of blood transfusions within the Medicare hospice benefit and enable patients and their families who rely on blood transfusions to fully access hospice services without sacrificing quality of life.
Currently, individuals requiring regular transfusions to maintain their quality of life, such as those battling leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma, face significant hurdles to find a hospice provide that would allow them to continue these transfusions while accessing hospice care. As a result, many patients are forced to choose to delay or forgo entering hospice, potentially missing out on valuable end-of-life care for fear of losing access to essential transfusion services.
This legislation acknowledges the critical role of transfusion services in maintaining the well-being and quality of life for patients with certain medical conditions. By carving out payment for transfusions, this bill allows hospice patients to continue receiving these life-sustaining treatments while benefiting from comprehensive hospice care. ABC aims to ensure that hospice patients have equal access to essential treatments, enabling them to receive comprehensive end-of-life care without sacrificing vital transfusions.