Awareness: Transplant cost

Sep 17

2 min read

The cost of a transplant varies depending on location, hospital, organ type, insurance coverage and other factors.

If you are researching or preparing for an organ transplant, contact your health insurance provider and your transplant center’s financial coordinator. They can help to determine costs based on your procedure, transplant center’s policies, and individual insurance coverage.

The cost of a transplant varies depending on location, hospital, organ type, insurance coverage and other factors.

How much will my organ transplant cost?

Medical costs checklist

Medical costs include:

Insurance deductibles
Insurance co-pays
Pre-transplant evaluation and testing
Fees for surgeons, physicians, radiologist, anesthesiologist and lab tests
Fees for the recovery of the organ from the donor
Surgery
Follow-up care and testing
Additional hospital stays for complications
Anti-rejection and other drugs, which can easily exceed $2,500 per month
Rehabilitation

Non-medical costs checklist

When planning for a transplant, it’s also important to take into consideration potential non-medical costs. Non-medical costs could 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
Childcare
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.

Reference and Publication Information:

https://transplantliving.org/financing-a-transplant/transplant-costs/ United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is committed to providing accurate and reliable information for transplant patients. The content on this page was originally created on July 10, 2003 by UNOS and last modified on April 6, 2023.