Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act of 2026

This bill directs the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMI) to establish a new payment model aimed at improving access to transfusion care for hospice patients. The core purpose of this model is to test allowing blood transfusions furnished to individuals receiving hospice care to be paid separately from the existing Medicare hospice all-inclusive per diem payment. Under this model, the payment for such transfusions would be the same as if the patient were not receiving hospice care. The CMI is required to establish and implement this model within one year of the bill's enactment. Furthermore, any evaluation of the model must compare participants with similar patients outside the model, assessing metrics such as chemotherapy services, hospital utilization in the last 30 days of life, and the frequency and number of transfusions for hospice versus non-hospice patients.