Financing a Transplant

The Costs

The cost of a transplant, including preliminary testing, the surgery itself and post-operative recovery costs vary across the country and depend on the hospital and organ type. These costs start to add up, even before your transplant. Therefore, patients commonly rely on several sources to help pay for their medical and non-medical costs of pre- and post-transplantation.

Medical Costs

Medical costs include:

  • insurance deductibles
  • insurance co-pays
  • pre-transplant evaluation and testing
  • surgery
  • fees for the recovery of the organ from the donor
  • follow-up care and testing
  • additional hospital stays for complications
  • fees for surgeons, physicians, radiologist, anesthesiologist and recurrent lab testing
  • anti-rejection and other drugs, which can easily exceed $2,500 per month

  • rehabilitation

Non-Medical Costs

Non-medical costs include:

  • food, lodging and long distance phone calls for you and your family
  • transportation, to and from your transplant center, before and after your transplant
  • plane travel to get to your transplant hospital quickly
  • child care
  • lost wages if your employer does not pay for the time you or a family member spends away from work
  • If your transplant center is not close to your home, lodging close to the center before and after your surgery. Some centers offer free or low-cost hospitality houses for you and your family.

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Estimated U.S. Average 2008 First-Year Billed Charges Per Transplant

 

30 Days Pre-transplant

Procurement

Hospital Transplant Admission

Physician During Transplantation

180 Days Post-transplant Admission

Immuno-supptressants

TOTAL
Heart Only $34,200 $94,300 $486,400 $50,800 $99,700 $22,300 $787,700
Single Lung Only $7,500 $53,600 $256,600 $27,900 $84,300 $20,500 $450,400
Double Lung Only $20,700 $96,500 $344,700 $59,300 $113,800 $22,800 $657,800
Liver Only $21,200 $73,600 $286,100 $44,100 $77,800 $20,600 $523,400
Kidney Only $16,700 $67,500 $92,700 $17,500 $47,400 $17,200 $259,000
Intestine Only $48,400 $77,200 $743,800 $100,600 $124,300 $27,500 $1,121,800
Pancreas Only $16,500 $68,400 $93,400 $16,300 $58,700 $22,200 $275,200
Heart-Lung $49,100 $151,900 $682,500 $73,000 $143,300 $24,700 $1,123,800

 

Source: http://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/finance/costs.aspx