America’s Blood Centers joined the national blood community in submitting a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requesting that the agency ) expeditiously update its coverage and reimbursement policies for COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) to ensure that patients have access to CCP furnished in both the outpatient and inpatient settings of…
Read MoreAmerica’s Blood Centers (ABC) has provided comments to the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration’s (FDA) Blood Product Advisory Committee (BPAC) ahead of theNovember 4th meeting. In the comments, the committee received an update of the“ongoing work” of ABC member blood centers during the COVID-19 pandemicand the challenges facing them and the blood community in maintaining the…
Read MoreRe: Document 0990-0313 Agency Information Collection Request: National Blood Collection& Utilization Survey (NBCUS) Thank you very much to the OASH and CDC staff working on the NBCUS for providing responses to ABC’s comments, dated May 24, 2021, on the draft 2021 NBCUS. We reviewed the responses received August 26, 2021 and provided our additional comments…
Read MoreAmerica’s Blood Centers, AABB, and the American Red Cross submitted joint comments to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) regarding the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems proposed rule for calendar year 2022. The comments focus on the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes P9099 (Blood component or…
Read MorePreparedness and Response Policies: Improving the Resiliency of the Nation’s Blood Supply America’s Blood Centers joined AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks) and the American Red Cross in expressing to Congress their commitment to improving the nation’s preparedness and response capabilities. Collectively, our organizations represent the nation’s blood collection establishments, transfusion…
Read MoreAmerica’s Blood Centers (ABC) welcomes the Honorable Dawn O’Connell, JD to the role of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). ABC looks forward to working with the ASPR to ensure broad awareness of the essential role of the blood supply in the health care system as well as the continuous need for blood donors…
Read MoreIn April of 2020 FDA issued three guidance documents which modified recommendations for blood collections relating to HIV, Malaria and Alternative Procedures for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. In a letter to the FDA, ABC submitted comments in support of making the three blood guidances permanent – beyond the duration of the…
Read MoreOn behalf of America’s Blood Centers (ABC) and our member blood centers, we applaud your efforts to maintain a safe and robust blood supply by ensuring that testing requirements and donor deferrals are evidence-based. The determination that Zika virus (ZIKV) is no longer a relevant transfusion-transmitted infection (RTTI) recognizes the evolving knowledge surrounding the virus,…
Read MoreRe: Document 0990-0313 Agency Information Collection Request: National Blood Collection& Utilization Survey (NBCUS) The biennial NBCUS is the only source of comprehensive data on blood collection and usage available for both public and private stakeholders, to support benchmarking and surveillance, ongoing research, regulatory needs, disaster planning, and national security concerns. In comments submitted this week…
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ABC Supports Senate Bill Focused on Tax Credits
America’s Blood Centers sent a letter to Senator Patricia C. Bates, in support of a recent Senate Bill 1025, which would establish a tax credit process for businesses that sponsor blood drives in California. COVID‐19 has severely impacted traditional means of collecting blood, including at business‐based mobile events, straining our nation’s blood supply. This public…
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