YourVoice.Now Summary
Average Household ImpactTransparency & AccountabilityFive more years and about $33 million a year for the national marrow and cord blood donor program.
Average Household Impact
- Program funding — Rises to about $33 million a year for 2027 through 2031
- Cord blood inventory target — Fixed 150,000-unit goal replaced with a Secretary-set level
- Storage commitment — Banks no longer agree to hold donated units in perpetuity
Transparency & Accountability
- Science review — Periodic review expanded to cord blood units and emerging technologies
- Reauthorization deadline — Extended to 2031, keeping the program subject to renewal
The details
The national program that connects patients to bone marrow and cord blood donors would run five more years. Funding would rise to about $33 million a year for 2027 through 2031. That is up from roughly $31 million now. Patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood diseases use this program to find matching donors. Rules for the national cord blood bank would also change. The fixed goal of 150,000 new units would give way to whatever supply the Secretary judges sufficient. Banks would no longer promise to store units in perpetuity. Health officials could move units out of banks that close or fall short of quality standards. They could also decide which units to keep, collect, or discard based on clinical evidence. Managing the inventory would have to account for genetic diversity.
Congressional Summary
Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2026This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 and revises programs that help patients receive transplants of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood from biologically unrelated donors. These programs are administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).The bill reauthorizes the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. This program supports transplantation of bone marrow and cord blood by increasing the quantities of donations, providing processes for matching and distributing donated materials to patients, and providing related information and research. The bill also expands periodic reviews of the state of stem cell science to specifically include a review of the use of high-quality cord blood units and other emergent technologies to develop new therapies for potential inclusion in the program.Also, the bill reauthorizes and revises the National Cord Blood Inventory program, through which HRSA contracts with qualified cord blood banks to collect and maintain a supply of high-quality units for transplantation through the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. The bill amends the inventory program by (1) changing the inventory goal from 150,000 units to a sufficient supply as determined by HRSA, (2) requiring HRSA to manage the size and composition of the inventory to maximize clinical utility and efficiency, and (3) defining high quality cord blood unit to mean a unit meeting current industry standards and the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to Senate
- Action Date
- 2026-06-22
- Date Added
- 2026-07-23
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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