Transplant Costs at Different Centers

There are many costs tied to having an unrelated donor bone marrow or cord blood transplant. Each center varies on what it charges for different services, and these costs change from year to year. For example, the cost of a cord blood unit varies and is established by individual cord blood banks.

Finding cost information for specific transplant centers

You can find information on transplant costs at different centers in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) U.S. transplant center listings. The costs for the unrelated donor search and collecting the donated cells (procurement) are listed in the section titled Estimated Search & Transplant Costs. These costs may vary significantly because of differences in how they are grouped and reported.

Keep in mind that the costs listed are a small part of the total cost of a transplant. They are only the costs specific to the donor search and services that occur before the transplant. Your out-of-pocket expenses will vary depending on your specific health care plan.

Most transplant centers have a financial representative who can answer your questions about transplant-related costs. This person's contact information is located in the Financial Services section in each transplant center listing.

Learning about your insurance coverage

It is very important to find out early in the process what kind of coverage you have for transplant. Every health care plan pays for the transplant process in different ways. Some pay for all of it, some pay for part of it and some do not pay for it at all. Some plans require you to go to specific transplant centers.

Your health care plan has customer service staff and case managers to answer your questions about coverage. They will also be able to tell you which NMDP transplant centers are covered and at what rate.

Resources

• To help you better understand your insurance coverage, see Mapping the Maze: A Personal Insurance and Financial Guide to Marrow and Cord Blood Transplant and other online information about planning for transplant costs.
• To create a personalized financial report that combines estimated indirect transplant costs and your household expenses, use the Calculating Additional Transplant Expenses online planning tool.
• To learn how we may be able to help with some transplant costs not covered by insurance, see Financial Assistance for Transplant Patients.
• To find other organizations that help patients with lodging, transportation and other transplant-related expenses, search our directory of Organizations That Can Help.