Blood donated to Red Cross is sold to hospitals.

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Blood Donors Are Being Exploited for Their 'Free' Blood.

• The American Red Cross sells donated blood to hospitals on a “cost-recovery basis.”

• The price a hospital pays for blood varies depending on location and other factors, but reports indicate prices have ranged from around $180 to $300 since 2000.  In 2019, hospitals paid, on average, $215 per unit of red blood cells.

• The cost a hospital incurs for giving a transfusion varies, as does the cost it charges patients. Several reports indicated hospitals charge patients thousands of dollars for a transfusion.

• For a routine blood transfusion a hospital could charge a patient approximately between $1,000 and $3,500, depending on the specific medical needs of a patient.  Uninsured patients would likely be charged about $1,300 for a blood transfusion (for 3 units, or more than $400 per unit).

Source:  This Politifact Article 

• I have paid as much as $450 per unit of blood.

• The last time I donated blood, I was "paid" with 2 ounces of watered-down Gatorade and 2 stale "Chips Ahoy" cookies.

Certainly not good for the uninsured.

An illustration of why the US needs to provide basic, free health insurance for its populace.

More like an illustration that blood donors are getting ripped off by being prevented from selling their own blood directly to those who need it instead.

I may get into that business...at least its lucrative gotta admire their business savvy.

Thank goodness blood recipients cannot be charged for the cost of the blood here in Australia.

It costs around A$300 to procure, process 470ml of whole blood into it's various parts and deliver to the required hospital. Any donor tissues including blood must by law be provided to the patient free of charge.

Our government meets the cost of donor centres and processing facilities.
By law blood donors cannot be paid for their donation, but the milkshakes and sausage rolls provided in the cafe are to die for!

The US medical system is very problematic. However, I hope no one takes this as a reason to not donate blood. Blood is generally only collected on a donation-basis in the United States. Let's hope it stays that way because I certainly do not want poor people exploited to sell their blood to the general population. Major ethical issues with that. https://www.statnews.com/2016/01/22/pai ... not-blood/ We need blood donors or lives are lost. Covid shut down mobile blood donation and decreased supply severely. I encourage healthy individuals to look into donating blood, as I do frequently, even if your only payment is snacks and the knowledge that you saved a life!