Gerald Kleczka: “the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (H.R. 5561), which passed as part of…”

“the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (H.R. 5561), which passed as part of the final Omnibus Appropriations package, contains important provisions (Title III, Section 301) needed by institutions that provide blood and blood products to the nation's hospitals. The legislation directs the Health Care Financing Agency (HCFA) to consider the prices of blood and blood products purchased by hospitals in the next rebasing and revision of the hospital market basket to determine if prices are adequately reflected. In addition, the bill requires that Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to analyze the increased hospital costs attributable to new blood technologies and to recommend necessary changes to provide fair reimbursement. These provisions are greatly needed because two recent technologies have been introduced to increase the safety of our nation's blood supply, Nucleic Acid Testing and Leukoreduction. Nucleic Acid Testing allows for the early detection of infectious diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitis C, by detecting the genetic material of the viruses, while Leukoreduction removes white cells and has the potential to shorten the severity of the illness and duration of hospital stays for patients who receive blood. In its first 15 months of implementation, the nucleic acid test detected and intercepted four HIV-positive donations and more than 57 Hepatitis C-positive donations.…”