Does Medicare Pay for Blood Transfusions?

Medicare will help cover the cost of blood transfusions, but you may be responsible for the cost of the first three units of blood you receive each year.

How much of the cost Medicare covers depends on how much blood you receive, whether you receive it as a hospital inpatient or in an outpatient setting, whether it comes from a blood bank and whether you donate the blood beforehand or find a donor.

Even though blood is often donated to blood banks, there are still handling and processing fees associated with the blood you receive in a transfusion. These include the cost of drawing the blood from a donor, testing, storage, transportation, salaries and other costs. You may be responsible for handling and processing fees in certain cases.

Your out-of-pocket costs for a transfusion can vary widely from less than $200 to well over a thousand dollars per unit of blood, depending on where the transfusion takes place and where the blood comes from.

Typically, you are responsible for the cost of the first three units of blood each year — unless it comes from a blood bank or it is donated specifically for your transfusion. You can donate blood ahead of time in some cases. A friend or family member may also donate blood on your behalf.

Original Medicare — Medicare Part A and Part B — cover blood transfusions in different ways and in different medical settings.

Medicare Part A hospital insurance covers your care if you receive a blood transfusion as a hospital inpatient.

Hospitals typically get their blood from blood banks. If that’s where the blood for your transfusion comes from, you pay nothing.

You are also responsible for your Medicare Part A deductible, which is $1,676 for each benefit period in 2025.

Medicare Part B medical insurance helps cover blood transfusions you receive in an outpatient setting. You must be enrolled in Medicare Part B, and you will be responsible for your deductible — $257 in 2025.

You will be responsible for your Medicare Part B deductible, and you will have an out-of-pocket copayment for handling and processing services. This amount may vary depending on where you receive treatment.

If the health care provider is enrolled in Medicare and gets the blood from a blood bank, you will not have to pay for the blood and won’t have to replace the first three units through donations.

If the provider has to buy the blood, you have to either pay for the first three units or replace them through donations just as you would under Medicare Part A.

Medigap policies and Medicare Advantage plans may also affect how much you have to pay out-of-pocket for a blood transfusion. Both are sold by private insurers.

Medigap policies, also referred to as Medicare Supplement insurance, work with Original Medicare to help cover your out-of-pocket costs.

All Medigap plans cover your costs for the first three pints of blood each year. Medigap also covers all or part of your copayments and coinsurance, depending on which plan you have. Only Medigap Plan C and Plan F will cover your Part B deductible.

Medicare Advantage plans are sold by private insurers and replace Original Medicare coverage. Federal law requires that Medicare Advantage plans cover everything Medicare Part A and Part B cover, but they may provide additional benefits that Original Medicare does not offer.

Medicare Advantage plans vary widely in regard to the additional benefits they provide. While Original Medicare requires you to pay for the first three pints of blood in a calendar year, you may find a Medicare Advantage plan that will cover part or all of that cost for you.

You cannot have both a Medigap policy and a Medicare Advantage plan at the same time. You will have to choose one or the other.