Section 4: How Medicare Pays for Blood
In most cases, Medicare Part A and Part B help pay for:
■ Whole blood units or packed red blood cells
■ Blood components
■ The cost of processing and giving you blood
What YOU pay for blood
Under both Part A and Part B, in most cases, the hospital gets blood from a blood bank at no charge, and you won’t have to pay for it or replace it. If the hospital has to buy blood for you, you must either pay the hospital for the first 3 units of whole blood or equivalent units of packed red blood cells that you get in a calendar year while you’re staying in a hospital or skilled nursing facility or replace the blood. See “Having Blood Donated” here.
You pay a copayment for additional units of blood you get as an outpatient (after the first 3), and the Part B deductible applies.
Note: Once you have paid for or replaced the required units of blood, you don’t have to do so again under either Part A or Part B for the remainder of the calendar year.
Having blood donated
You can replace the blood by donating it yourself, or getting another person or organization to donate the blood for you. The blood that’s donated doesn’t have to match your blood type. If you decide to donate the blood yourself, check with your doctor first.
Can I be charged for the blood that I have donated?
No. A hospital or skilled nursing facility can’t charge you for any of the first 3 pints of blood you have already donated or will have donated.
Medicare doesn’t pay for blood for home self-dialysis unless it’s part of a doctor’s service or is needed to prime the dialysis equipment.