Support the Protect Access to Cellular Transplant Act

Letter to the editor

Posted

I survived leukemia because a young man, a stranger to me, donated his blood stem cells to save my life!

Every three minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia and needs a blood stem cell transplant to survive. 

Unfortunately, 70 percent of patients do not have a matching donor in their family, as was true in my case. I relied on the national Be The Match Registry for my match. This registry depends on legislative support to operate. While blood stem cell transplants are standard medical practice and are routinely covered and reimbursed by commercial insurers, accessing these services can be difficult for Medicare beneficiaries. Existing Medicare policy fails to fully reimburse hospitals for the costs associated with performing blood stem cell transplants. Lacking adequate Medicare payment for transplants, hospitals often endure a financial hit when performing these procedures, which threatens to potentially limit patient access to transplant.

Congress can help all blood cancer and blood disease patients by supporting the Protect Access to Cellular Transplant (PACT) Act (H.R. 2498/S. 1268), which would instruct Medicare to reimburse hospitals for the cost of acquiring donor cells, performing the transplant, covering long inpatient stays.

As a leukemia survivor committed to ensuring equal outcomes for all, I am asking Congress to help all blood cancer and blood disease patients get the lifesaving transplant they need. Please join me in these efforts.