Can hospitals charge more for blood than what they paid?

Is there specific state and/or federal (Medicare?) regulation which prohibits hospitals from billing more for blood products than what they are charged by their supplier?

The following ideas have been submitted in response to the posed question. These opinions are paraphrased and are being presented without attribution. They do not represent an official opinion or position of the CBBS.

1. One individual stated that a hospital is not allowed to charge more for a blood product than what the hospital paid for the product, because a blood product charge is no different than any other service obtained (bought) from an "outside lab". For example, the cost of reference lab testing should pass to the patient without a mark-up in charge. However, this same individual stated that there is no rule to prohibit a hospital from tacking on a "processing", "handling", or "administrative" charge to the cost of a blood, so that the patient pays for the product and pays for related services.
   
   
2. A second individual stated that information pertaining to this issue is included in the contract that the Red Cross enters into with each hospital that it services. In the section "Billing", section "B" it states: "Hospital agrees that hospital fees charged by Red Cross will be itemized as processing costs...." -- This individual stated that it is required to list on the patient bill the Red Cross processing fee for the unit. However, the hospital is allowed to post additional charges for hospital processing, etc.; but the fee that was paid for the unit is to be reflected on the patient billing. This individual commented that it gets difficult if there are multiple vendors providing blood products at different costs.
   
   
3. A third individual seemed surprised at the prospect that a hospital might be billing a patient more for a blood product than the actual amount the hospital paid for the blood product. This individual wondered if a hospital should instead elevate other costs, e.g., X-match charges, set up fees, blood typing, antibody screening, stat charges, etc. The individual further wondered if blood is now to be considered a "drug", and if it is, would that have any influence on a patient's billing. The individual lamented that we should not forget that for the longest time blood was once considered a "service".

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