When the Blood Assurance Program (BAP) started in the 1960s, healthcare insurance plans were mostly indemnity plans and each line item was specified on the bill. The BAP provided assistance in covering costs related to blood that often times were not covered by insurance. It has been an important part of assisting patients and has remained basically the same for 31 years.

Now healthcare insurance plans are primarily managed care plans and Medicare. Costs are generally covered based on a contractual amount related to a specific diagnosis, not by line item. In working with hospitals we found that in many cases our credits could not be applied to a patient’s bill, and therefore, the patients did not receive any benefit.

Click here for a list of hospitals that cannot accept BAP credits.

Because The Blood Center is committed to providing meaningful benefits to our donors, we have evaluated many options for modifying the BAP to meet the changed “managed care” cost reimbursement environment. The options under the current program do not appear to provide an effective benefit to donors or patients. Therefore, the current Blood Assurance Program will be discontinued on December 31, 2005. The Blood Center will honor BAP coverage for twelve months from a donor’s last donation date in 2005, plus any applicable waiting period.

In response to the changing times, The Blood Center developed the Commit for Life Program to offer benefits that appeal to all types of donors. These benefits include earning valuable points for each donation, access to Digital Donor and the Commit for Life Store, health and wellness checks, and most importantly, saving up to three lives with each donation.

Commit for Life is a partnership between you and The Blood Center that is focused on saving lives, today…and in the future. You can Commit for Life by donating one time per quarter, allowing us to contact you, and spreading the word about Commit for Life and the need for blood.