Iowa’s Not-for-Profit Community Blood Centers Urge Inclusion of Blood Testing Supplies Tax Bill in Tax Reform Bill

A tax reform bill moving through the Iowa Legislature would reduce taxes paid by Iowans by millions of dollars annually. Surprisingly, however, Iowa’s not-for-profit community blood centers are not included in the Tax Reform bill. Currently, the two not-for-profit community blood centers based in Iowa pay hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in taxes on purchases of supplies that are essential for blood testing. If the blood testing supplies tax bill isn’t passed, these costs will continue for these community blood centers. As a volunteer and avid blood donor with LifeServe Blood Center, which is based in Des Moines, I urge the Iowa House of Representatives to include House File 132, a bill that removes a sales tax on blood testing supplies, in the tax reform bill.

As an ISU student pursuing a career in metabolic research, I am very passionate about the lifesaving mission and the impact this tax bill could make on our local community blood centers. These blood centers provide all of the blood and blood components used in 106 Iowa hospitals. In 2017, they provided thousands of lifesaving products that impacted the lives of more than 500,000 hospital patients in 99 Iowa counties. 

LifeServe Blood Center also partnered with ISU researchers in Ames to provide leftover blood donor cells to gain crucial insights into how natural killer cells circulating in the human body differ from those typically studied in the lab. Blood products are transfused every day to Iowans in treatment for cancer, those requiring surgery, trauma patients, for complications related to child birth and for many other reasons. Their 739 Iowa-based employees perform an essential role within our State’s continuum of care. 

These blood centers are stewards of the selfless gift freely given by thousands of Iowan blood donors. These donors provide a potentially lifesaving gift, but one that can only be used at the hospital after the blood center staff properly collect, test, process and deliver donations from their collection sites to the hospitals they serve. All of their work is governed by strict regulations for the safety of blood donors and for patients who receive blood transfusions. 

Not only is the blood supply testing required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is critical for public health and public safety. Iowa is one of only three states that impose sales tax on not-for-profit blood centers. LifeServe Blood Center and Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, spend millions of dollars every year to purchase equipment and supplies needed to properly collect blood and perform testing required by the FDA. Taxes on these purchases annually run into hundreds of thousands of dollars for these not-for-profit blood centers. 

Their operating expenses are passed through to the hospitals they serve (many of which are themselves not-for-profit hospitals). Their centers are focused on reducing costs associated with providing lifesaving blood for hospital patients throughout Iowa. Because they desire to operate as efficiently as possible for the hospitals they serve, we are urging the State Legislature to create an exemption for Iowa’s not-for-profit community blood centers by including their bill that removes a sales tax on blood testing supplies into the tax reform bill.

Thank you for your support of these organizations and their continued ability to serve citizens, hospitals and communities of our great state.